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A PEEP- AT MEXICO. 



PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY 
EDINBURGH AND LONDON 



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MEXICAN EAGLE 

PHOTOGRAPHED FROM A SILK EMBROIDERY WORKED 

IN COLOURS. BY AN INMATE OFTHE 

HOSPICIO DE GUADALAJARA. 



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A PEEP AT MEXICO: 

NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY 

ACROSS THE REPUBLIC FROM THE PACIFIC 

TO THE GULF 

IN DECEMBER 1873 and JANUARY 1874. 



JOHN LEWIS GEIGER, F.RG.S. 



ILLUSTRATED BY 




LONDON: 
TRUBNER & CO., 57 & 59 LUDGATE HILL. 

1874. 

[All rights resetted. ] 






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$ 



PREFACE. 



Mexico, the first European colony on the North 
American Continent, has for the last three centuries, 
and especially in modern times, been a favourite 
resort of travellers and naturalists, and its capital, 
as well as the country between it and the eastern 
coast, have been frequently and ably described. 

The portion westward of the metropolis, however, 
has not been so often visited, and information con- 
cerning it is comparatively scarce. 

I have therefore ventured to offer the following- 
pages to the reader, in the hope that some novel 
facts may be gleaned from them, especially as my 
journey afforded me an insight into the country 
under exceptionally favourable circumstances. 

The photographs accompanying this volume will, 
I trust, prove acceptable as an aid towards the better 
appreciation of scenes of which my imperfect de- 
scription may have failed to convey a correct 
idea. 



PREFACE. 



Twenty-three of their number are reductions 
from negatives taken by me on the route (many 
representing views probably never previously photo- 
graphed) ; the others are copies from photographs 
either prepared specially for me, or personally 
selected on the spot. 

The short time spent by me in the Eepublic 
necessarily precludes the remotest claim to com- 
pleteness for these pages : they simply contain the 
record of such facts as came under my notice, nor 
have. I entertained a more ambitious aim than 
to connect the isolated links of travel and enjoy- 
ment. J. L. G. 

London, August 29, 1874. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MANZANILLO. 

Departure from San Francisco — A misnomer — San Diego — Its bay 
and its condition — The Lower Californian coast — Dolphins and 
flying-fishes — Cape St Lucas — American cousins of the Needles 
— Within theHropics — Mazatlan — Distance lends enchantment to 
the view — A dangerous pier — Dull streets — A sea of fire — Arrival 
at Manzanillo — Strange scenes — An airy bed — A chilly soldier — 
The Laguna de Cuyutlan — Short streets and small houses — 
The plaza — Agua fresca — A picturesque view — The harbour — 
German merchants— Cahntura — Water-carriers, .• . . 1-19 



CHAPTER II. 

FROM MANZANILLO TO COLIMA. 

Early departures — A changeable lake — A curious steamer— Departure 
from Manzanillo — Uncomfortable thoughts — The Laguna de 
Cuyutlancillo — Cuyutlancillo — A straggling party — Mozos and 
their attire — Tropical forest — Organo cactus — Magnificent birds — 
An Indian village — The Rio de la Armeria — Frijoles — Tortillas — 
A small bill — Saddle-mules versus waggons — Hacienda de la 
Calera — Agua de Coco — A dark walk — The Via de Colima — 
Entrance into Colima — Fonda Hidalgo, .... 20-40 

CHAPTER III. 

COLIMA. 

A pleasant "change — Situation of Colima — Climate — Fever — Streets 
and houses — The plaza — Its four sides — The Plaza Nueva — The 



viii CONTENTS. 



Rio de Colima — Baths — Wonderful gardens — A vuelta on the 
plaza — Appearance of the people — Their dress — Charro — Modes 
de Colima — The theatre — The market — Cotton factories — Clever 
artisans — Position and productions of the State of Colima — 
Produce for home consumption and export — Import trade — 
Mexican promotion — Respectable Governors, .... 41-64 



CHAPTER IV. 

COLIMA TO SAYULA. 

Preparations for departure — Cheerful intelligence — Start from Colima 
— JRanchos and their crops — Small-pox — Barrancas — Barranca de 
Tonila — Tonila — Abundance of food — The standard menu — The 
Volcan de Colima — The Pico Helado — Pedregales — Enter the 
State of Jalisco— Hacienda San Marcos — A fine view — Barranca 
de Beltran — Luxuriant plants and magnificent birds — Mvlas de 
cargo — Barranca de Vueltas — The pueblo of the hacienda labourers 
—Hacienda del Platanar — Strange scene — The escort — A dangerous 
forest — Evil and remedy united— Indulgent authorities — Barranca 
de Atenquique — A country restaurant — Nopales — M agiwy— Its 
uses — Pulque — Mezcal and Tequile — Arrival at Zapotlan — Its 
inhabitants — Corrupt priests — The hotel — The plaza — Fighting- 
cocks — A comfortable priest — Situation of Zapotlan — Its climate 
— Its manufactures and products — Mineral wealth — Departure 
from Zapotlan — A brigand punished — Graves by the roadside — 
Brigands and brigandage— The summit of the pass — A magnifi- 
cent view — Arrival at Sayula, . . . . „ 65-99 



CHAPTER V. 

SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. 

A family likeness — Sayula — Its climate — An extensive vista — An 
attempt at swindling — First experience of a diligencia — Departure 
from Sayula — Closely packed — Cavalry escort — Lago de Sayula — 
La Cofradia — Carbonate of soda or tequesquite — A cotton-tree — 
Cebollas — Mexican diligencias — Cocheros and their assistants — 
Laguna de Zacoalco — A horrible road — Mismanagement of public 
works — Pozos — An extensive plateau — Santa Ana Acatlan — Santa 
Cruz and Christmas processions — The valley of Guadalajara — 
Mexican waggons and carts — Travelling Indios — A small but 
dangerous barranca— An agreeable change — Arrival at Guadalajara 
— Comfortable quarters, 100-120 



CONTENTS. ix 



CHAPTER VI. 

GUADALAJARA. 

The State of Jalisco— Situation of its capital— Its climate— Streets and 
houses — Architecture — Wretched outlying quarters — The plaza— - 
The cathedral — The palacio — The portales— Z)w/ces— Native toys — 
Clay images — Cajones — Composition of the population — Cotton 
factories and paper-mill— The Salto factory— Brigands and plagia- 
rios — A picnic interrupted — Brave men — Insecurity of the city — 
Juan Panadero — A happy editor — Voz de Jalisco, the priest's paper 
— A violent pamphlet — Hospital de San Miguel de Belen — A mor- 
bid taste— The department for the lunatics— The schools — The 
Cimenterio de Belen — Gavetas — The burial-place of the poor — 
The Hospicio de Guadalajara — A town of charities — The cuna — 
Customs encouraging immorality — The schools — Superior em- 
broidery — Trades for youths— The church and a doll-show — Girl's 
school of San Diego — The teatro, a Roman ruin — Fine interior — 
A Mexican Italian-opera troupe— Bull-fights, and the bull-arena — 
An enthusiastic audience — The paseo — The alameda — A Guadala- 
jaran Rotten Row — Walks in the portales — Evening vueltas on 
the plaza — A practical arrangement — Female seclusion — Serenades 
without music — A simple pulley— Middle-age habits retained — 
Strange contrasts, 121-163 

CHAPTER XLL 

FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 

Departure from Guadalajara — San Pedro — A poor district — Beggars — 
The valley of the Lerma — Lago de Chapala — Puente de Tololotlan 
— Zapotlanejo — A joke — Puente de Calderon — Tepatitlan — Sterile 
country — La Venta de Pegueros — A forced halt — San Juan de los 
Lagos — Its saint and its fair — Organo fences — Lagos — A clean 
diputado — Arboles del Peru or Peruvian pepper-trees — Enter the 
State of Guanajuato — Leon — Silao — Rugged country — Marfil — 
Arrival at Guanajuato, 164-188 

CHAPTER VIII. 

GUANAJUATO. 

From bad to good — Site of Guanajuato — Jardin de la Union — New 
theatre — Superior administration — Foreign residents — Fine coun- 
try houses — Loza — The presas — El Cantador — A Sunday afternoon 
there— Riders — Mineral wealth— La Valenciana mine — A pestilen- 



CONTENTS. 



tial road — A valuable village — A monster shaft — Mining opera- 
tions — Other mines — Yield of precious metals — Conductas — The 
Castillo de Granaditas — Trajes del pais — Silver figures — Situation 
of Guanajuato, 189212 



CHAPTER IX. 

FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 

Departure from Guanajuato — Irapuato — Improvement in the country 
— Salamanca — Celaya — Artificial irrigation — The Plaza — Banos — 
Apaseo — Indian village — Enter the State of Quere*taro — Arrival 
at the State capital — Superior hotel — Aspect of the town — Its 
manufactures — Situation and population — A hard day — Questa 
China — An oasis in the desert — San Juan del Rio — Enter the 
State of Mexico — The watershed — Arrival at Tula — Our clerical 
fellow-passenger — Venta del Refugio — A sermon — Traffic on the 
road — Huehuetoca — A finely balanced coach — Cuautitlan — Wide 
and shady roads — Tlalnepantla — The valley of Mexico — Irriga- 
tion — Modern Aztecs — Approach the capital — Arrival in the city 
of Mexico, • . . 213-245 



CHAPTER X. 

IN THE CAPITAL. 

Hotel Iturbide — Arrived in the tierra fria — Plaza mayor — The 
Cathedral— The Sagrario — The Palacio del Gobierno — Portales de 
Mercaderes — Casa de Cabildo — Lonja — Portales de las flores — 
View from Cathedral tower — The Alameda — Statue of Charles IV. 
— The Paseo de Bucareli — The Tacubaya tramway — Tacubaya — 
Plagiarios — The plagio of Senor Cervantes — The Tlalpam Rail- 
way — Chapultepec — A huehuetes — Spanish moss — Puente de 
Alvarado — Aqueduct of San Cosme — Fuente de Tlaxpana — Tree ■ 
of the noche triste — Tacuba — The teocalli — Trivoli de San Cosme 
— Guadalupe — A stone frigate — Paseo de la Viga — The canal — 
Indios — Guatemozin's bust — Garita de la Viga — Floating gardens 
— The Roldan market — Santo Anita — Ixtacalco — A strange 
burial-ground — The calendar stone — Aztec war-god — Sacrificial 
stone — The Museum — The Academy of San Carlos— Cimenterio de 
San Fernando — The Cinco de Mayo — Theatres — Situation of the 
city of Mexico — Its buildings and streets — Climate — The people 
—Foreigners, 246-294 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XL 



ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS. 



General ignorance about Mexico — Causes of the civil wars — Laws of 
Reform — The Intervention — Maximilian's death — Measures against 
the priests and religious societies — Custom-house malpractices — 
Inheritance from the Spaniards — Population of the Republic — 
Creoles — Mestizos — Indians — Climate and productiveness of the 
country — The future, 295-322 

CHAPTER XII. 

FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 

Departure from the capital — Buena vista station — The Mexico and Vera 
Cruz Railway — A cold night — Apizaco and the branch line to 
Puebla — Pico de Orizaba — Boca del Monte — Maltrata — Escorts — 
Barranca del Infiernillo — Arrival at Orizaba— Fertility around the 
town — Cotton factory — Resume journey — Barranca de Metlac — 
Cordoba — Atoyac — Chiquihuite Falls — Luxuriant vegetation of 
tierra caliente — Barrenness of the country near the coast — Arrival 
at Vera Cruz — Hotel de las Diligencias — Peculiar hotel arrange- 
ments — The nortc — Baths — Embarkation on board the Floride 
and departure, 323-353 



LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS. 



The photographs in this volume have been prepared partly from the author's 
negatives, partly from photographic prints by Messrs Spencer, Sawyer, 
Bird & Co., Ealing Dean, Middlesex. They are printed by the mechanical 
autotype process in permanent pigments. 



MEXICAN EAGLE, PHOTOGEAPHED FROM A SILK EMBROIDERY WORKED IN 
COLOURS BY AN INMATE OF THE HOSPICIO DE GUADALAJARA, 

TO FACE 
SAN FRANCISCO AND THE" GOLDEN GATE, 
MAZATLAN ; THE BEACH, .... 
CHIEF STREET IN MAZATLAN, 
MANZANILLO; THE BAY, . 

MANZANILLO ; LAGUNA DE CUYUTLAN IN BACKGROUND. 
SHORE OF LAGUNA DE CUYUTLAN, MANZANILLO, . 
STREET IN COLIMA, .... 

RUINED CATHEDRAL AND STATE PRISON ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE PLAZA 

DE ARMAS, COLIMA, .... 
PLAZA DE ARMAS, COLIMA ; NORTH SIDE, . 

DO. DO. SOUTH SIDE, . 

DO. DO. WEST SIDE, . 

THE RIO DE COLIMA AFTER THE RAINY SEASON, . 
STREET IN THE SUBURBS OF COLIMA, 
VIEW TAKEN FROM AN AZOTEA, COLIMA, . 
STREET IN SAYULA, .... 

DO. DO. . 

PART OF ESCORT IN THE PATIO OF THE FONDA, SAYULA, 
THE CATHEDRAL, GUADALAJARA, . 
INTERIOR OF CATHEDRAL, GUADALAJARA, 
STREET IN GUADALAJARA, LEADING TO THE HOSPICIO, 
BULL-ARENA, HOSPICIO IN BACKGROUND, GUADALAJARA, 



ece. 

PAGE 

3 

9 

10 
15 
17 
19 
43 

45 

46 

47 

47 

48 

50 

64 

100 

102 

104 

124 

126 

142 

151 



XIV 



LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND MAPS. 



BULL-ARENA, GUADALAJARA, 

FOUNTAIN IN THE ALAMEDA, GUADALAJARA, 

WALK IN THE ALAMEDA, GUADALAJARA, . 

THE PASEO, GUADALAJARA, 

VIEW TAKEN FROM AN AZOTEA, GUADALAJARA, 

GUANAJUATO ; NORTH-WEST PART, 

CHIEF STREET IN GUANAJUATO, WITH CATHEDRAL 

THE CATHEDRAL, CITY OF MEXICO, 

THE PALACIO, CITY OF MEXICO, . 

PORTALES MERCADERES, MEXICO, . 

PLAZA MAYOR, MEXICO, . 

ENTRANCE TO CHAPULTEPEC, . . 

CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC, NEAR MEXICO, . 

TREE OF THE " NOCHE TRISTE " AT POPOTLA, NEAR MEXICO, 

CHURCH OF GUADALUPE, NEAR CITY OF MEXICO, 

TOLTEC CALENDAR STONE, CITY OF MEXICO, 

VIEW ON THE MEXICAN RAILWAY : THE VALLEY OF MALTRATA AND 

PICO DE ORIZABA, . 
VIEW OF THE RAILWAY SKIRTING THE SIDE OF THE BARRANCA 

INFIERNILLO, . . • 

VIEW NEAR ORIZABA, . . . 

ORIZABA, ..... 
CURVED RAILWAY BRIDGE OVER THE BARRANCA DE METLAC 
THE ATOYiC RAILWAY BRIDGE, . 
THE ALAMEDA, VERA CRUZ, 



TO FACE PAGE 
152 

156 
157 
158 
161 
191 
194 
248 
249 
250 
251 
260 
262 
268 
272 
281 

330 

333 
334 
336 
342 
345 
353 



LIST OF MAPS. 



HYPSOMETRICAL MAP OF THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO, . . After -preface. 

MAP OF PORTION OF MEXICO, FROM THE PACIFIC TO GUADALAJARA, Toface p. 20 
MAP OF PORTION OF MEXICO, FROM GUADALAJARA TO CITY OF MEXICO, . 164 

MAP OF PORTION OF MEXICO, SHOWING RAILWAY TO VERA CRUZ, . 323 



A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

CHAPTER I. 

FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MANZANILLO. 

Departure from San Francisco — A misnomer — San Diego — Its bay 
and its condition — The Lower Californian coast — Dolphins and 
flying-fishes — Cape St Lucas — American cousins of the Needles 
— Within the tropics — Mazatlan — Distance lends enchantment to 
the view — A dangerous pier — Dull streets — A sea of fire — 
Arrival at Manzanillo — Strange scenes — An airy bed — A chilly 
soldier — The Laguna de Cuyutlan — Short streets and small 
houses — The plaza — Agua fresca — A picturesque view — The 
harbour —German merchants — Galentura — Water- carriers. 

It was on Thursday, December the 4th, 1873, 
that I quitted San Francisco, and embarked on 
board the Pacific mail- steamer Montana, bound 
for the Mexican coast and Panama. 

The glorious weather I had enjoyed during my 
stay in California had given way for the last two 
days to gusts of wind and drizzling rain; the 
hitherto splendidly clear sky was now covered with 

A 



A PEEP AT MEXICO. 



black, heavy clouds, and the streets of San Fran- 
cisco had for the moment lost their cheerfulness 
and fascination. 

I looked upon wind and weather, however, 
without any feeling of discomfort, for was I not 
on my way to the tropics, where the rains were 
over ? and what cared I for Scotch mist, leaden 
sky, and muddy streets, when a few days would 
bring me to palms and brilliant sunshine ? 

At twelve o'clock, the time appointed for starting, 
the steamer is unmoored, her huge paddle-wheels 
revolve astern, and the heavy ship gently backs 
towards the centre of the bay; the signal -gun is 
fired; and now good-bye to San Francisco, young 
and prosperous metropolis of the Pacific, — good-bye 
to the beautiful Golden State, and its warm-hearted, 
hospitable people. 

The Montana proceeds slowly down the spa- 
cious bay, past numerous wharves crowded with 
craft of all shapes and sizes, and flying the flags 
of all nations. We gradually begin to lose sight 
of the city's tall buildings, and gliding by the 
isolated houses and villas along the shore, we are 
soon abreast of Alcatraz Island, which occupies the 




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FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MANZANILLO. 3 

very centre of the channel, and is entirely covered 
by its red -brick fort. After passing the bare 
brown hills of Angel Island, a mile away on our 
right, the shores of the bay rapidly approach one 
another, and we steam briskly through the gap left 
by two rocky promontories — the celebrated Golden 
Gate, that threshold to the wonderland of twenty 
years ago, that goal on which the hopes of all adven- 
turers and treasure-seekers were then centered. 

We had scarcely left Fort Point, with its graceful 
lighthouse and extensive fortifications, and were just 
nearing Point Bonita on the other side, when for 
awhile the rain ceased and through a break in the 
clouds the sun sent forth his piercing rays over 
the troubled waters, seeming to transform the surf 
that dashed against the craggy coast into showers 
of diamonds, and casting a magic lustre over the 
grand and impressive scene. 

On the outlying rocks huge seals and thousands 
of sea-fowl, by their barking and screeching, seemed 
most thoroughly to enjoy the tumult of the waves, 
whilst black-fish and porpoises appeared near the 
sides of the steamer, and flocks of gulls were 
following in her wake. 



A PEEP AT MEXICO. 



Two miles to our left, we caught sight of the 
Cliff House and Seal Eocks, bright with many a 
pleasant reminiscence of happy hours, and before 
us lay for thousands of miles the broad expanse 
of the Pacific. 

Yet what a sad misnomer this proved to-day ! 
Half a gale blowing from the south caused the 
waters to be anything but peaceful, and recalled 
to memory the normal condition of the Bay of 
Biscay rather than that of an ocean which owes its 
name to a reputation for tranquillity. 

After crossing the bar, the steamer's head was 
turned southward, and away we w^ent against sea 
and wind, the Montana pitching and rolling to 
such a degree as to compel the majority of the 
passengers to seek the privacy of their cabins. 

For the next fifty -two hours we sailed along the 
Californian coast, at a distance of about fifteen 
miles ; and at five o'clock in the afternoon of 
December 6th reached San Diego, the southern- 
most town belonging to the United States on the 
Pacific, and within a few miles of the Mexican 
frontier. 

San Diego Bay is full of shoals and sandbanks, 



FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MANZANILLO. 5 

and the channel leading to the harbour most 
tortuous and intricate. The steamer was moored 
to the head of a pier which traverses the shallow 
approach to the land for about half a mile. The 
town itself, situate in a barren, desert -like 
country, is almost entirely composed of wooden 
houses, and is the exact type of what Americans 
would call a new Western town. Unlike most of 
these, however, San Diego is not in a very 
flourishing condition, and is said to be losing in 
importance and population. There are, notwith- 
standing, some who have faith in the future of 
the place, who still believe in a speedy completion 
of the Texas Pacific Eailway, which intends making 
its terminus here, and regard matters in a more 
cheerful light. 

Next morning, at eight o'clock, we resumed 
our voyage, and for the following three days 
coasted along Lower California, at times out of 
sight of land, but mostly at distances from 
eight to fifteen miles from the shore. It is 
difficult to imagine anything more desolate than 
the appearance of this coast. It presents a 
continuous line of rugged mountains of a reddish- 



A PEEP AT MEXICO. 



brown colour, without a tree or a shrub, or in- 
deed any green thing ; more forbidding in its awful, 
arid solitude than any wilderness, more dreary and 
monotonous than the prairie or the ocean. It was 
quite a relief to turn the eye away from shore 
towards the sea, which, in this latitude, is by 
no means inanimate. Dolphins were seen blowing 
jets of water high up into the air, black-fish and 
porpoises gambolled in all directions, whilst from 
the bows of the steamer we watched the grace- 
ful flying-fishes rising in crowds out of the water, 
and in long, sweeping circles endeavouring to 
escape from the mysterious monster, which, although 
harmless, frightened them doubtless more than the 
largest whale. 

In the morning of December the 10th we arrived 
at Cape St Lucas, where we remained for a short 
time in order to send a boat ashore with a pas- 
senger and the mail-bags. This cape, the southern- 
most part of the Lower Californian peninsula, is a 
series of detached rocks, precipitous masses of 
various sizes and grotesque shapes, hollowed into 
countless small bays and caves, where hundreds 
of seals and sea-fowl have taken up their abode. 



FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MANZANILLO. 7 

The so-called town consists of but three houses 
and a few huts standing on a decline that, between 
cliffs and hills, slopes gently down to the beach. 
The only vegetation apparent is huge cacti, which 
densely cover the surrounding hills, and here and 
there a palm near the houses ; but, despite the 
seeming barrenness of the land, there is much in this 
cosy, isolated little place that imparts to it that 
peculiar charm inseparable from a tropical land- 
scape. 

Proceeding on our voyage, we observed three 
large rocks rising in succession from the sea, and 
vividly suggestive of the Isle of Wight Needles ; 
and then rounding another headland, the steamer 
changed her course to almost due east, on her way 
across the entrance of the Gulf of California in the 
direction of Mazatlan. 

We were now within the tropics, a circumstance 
of which every turn reminded us. It was 
not only the increased temperature that told of 
our progress south ; the very air seemed changed, 
and appeared as if tinged with a purple hue, giving 
exquisite softness to the jagged outlines of the 
copper-coloured rocks on the sterile coast, and a 



A PEEP AT MEXICO. 



deeper, clearer blue to the waters of the sea. The 
gulls that had followed the ship in crowds ever since 
we left San JFrancisco were now growing scarcer and 
scarcer, and where hundreds had two days ago 
gathered, amidst their shrill notes, the smallest 
trifle that fell from the steamer, only three or 
four might now be seen flapping their wings lazily 
in the hot air, and refreshing themselves by an 
occasional bath, for the fatigues of this their foreign 
trip. 

Shortly after our departure from Cape St Lucas, 
we lost sight of land until early next morning, 
when Mazatlan became visible, snugly situate 
at the foot of rocks and hills, and on the 
shore of a small circular bay. Viewed from the 
sea, the town is most picturesque in its aspect. 
The low, white, flat -roofed houses, overshadowed by 
tall palms, and surrounded by giant -leaved bananas, 
impart to it a truly tropical character, and awaken 
a longing to go ashore, in order to examine more 
closely a scene to which distance can lend such 
enchantment. The experiment of course proved 
disappointing. 

After the Montana had anchored, a quarter of an 



FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MANZANILLO. 9 

hours row brought me to the pier, which juts out 
about a hundred feet from the land. 

This was the first time that I had set foot on 
Mexican soil, and I silently asked myself if the 
ground I trod was, in its nature, emblematic of 
the whole country. This pier did not possess a 
single entire plank; it was rotten and decayed 
from beginning to end, and unless the eye could 
be riveted on the ground, an immersion in the 
sea would have been the unavoidable consequence. 

The pier was formerly provided with rails, on 
which horse-cars transported goods from the landing- 
stage to the opposite custom-house, but for some 
unknown reason they had been removed ; another 
step, as my informant expressed himself, in the 
retrogression so potent in this part of the country. 

Mazatlan may be described as a collection of 
straight, narrow streets, paved with pebbles, and 
lined with low, whitewashed houses. The latter 
are solidly built of stone or adobe* and, with few 
exceptions, contain a ground-floor alone. A few 

* Adobe is sun-dried brick, and the most common building material 
all over Mexico. It is formed in shapes measuring about fifteen by eight 
inches in length and width, and about three inches in thickness. 



10 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

more imposing buildings, belonging to the wealthy 
merchants of the town, are constructed on a plan 
(as I afterwards discovered) universally adopted in 
Mexico,' viz., round the sides of an interior square 
yard, on to which all the rooms open. There is 
great comfort in such an arrangement in a climate 
where shade in the open air is absolutely indis- 
pensable. 

There is a small public square (plaza) in Mazatlan, 
lined with orange-trees, and provided with benches, 
but otherwise unattractive. I also saw a number 
of spacious gardens, adorned with cocoa -palms, 
bananas, zapotes, and a great variety of other tro- 
pical plants ; but little care seems to be bestowed on 
their cultivation, and they appeared wild and 
slovenly. 

The streets of the town are dull in the extreme. 
There are no vehicles of any kind, and but few 
pedestrians ; a mule -driver beating his heavily- 
packed animal, or a hawker seated on a doorstep 
with his few goods spread out on a cloth before 
him on the pavement, form almost the only occu- 
pants. Besides this, the shops lack show-windows, 
and the houses, with their big iron-barred win- 



FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MANZANILLO. 11 

dows, are one the image of the other; so that a 
more tame or colourless effect can be scarcely 
conceived. 

The population, numbering about 20,000, is 
chiefly due to Mestizos* whose features betoken 
peculiarities of both component races, — the com- 
plexion being a yellow brown, and not unlike that 
of the Arabs. In the best quarters there reside 
many descendants of true Spanish blood, whilst 
in the outskirts, composed of thatched huts, the 
pure Indians prevail. 

In the evening, the Montana proceeded on her 
voyage. The heat was becoming so intense, that 
people hesitated to retire to their cabins, and the 
deck was full and gay until a late hour. On 
that night the sea was illuminated by the most 
magnificent phosphorescence ; the slightest ruffle on 
its calm surface flashed into a splendid sheet of fire, 
and where the steamer came in contact with the 
water, it would glitter with a million sparks, which 
lingered until a wide and brilliant trail marked 
the wake of the speeding ship. 

The distance between Mazatlan and Manzanillo is 

* Half-castes of Spanish and Indian blood. 



12 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

about three hundred miles, which took the Montana 
thirty hours to accomplish, and at nine o'clock in the 
evening of Friday, December 12th, I arrived at the 
latter port. The sky was overcast, and the night 
gloomy, when I disembarked and was rowed 
ashore. The hot, heavy air was thick with insects, 
and appeared almost too dense to breathe; the 
waters gleamed like liquid fire, as each plash of 
the oars scintillated with waves of rising light ; 
while from the shore, as yet undiscernible, the breeze 
wafted notes of music, soft and harmonious. Was 
this real, or the delusion of a dream, the mockery 
of inventive imagination ? 

I had not time to doubt; the boat was steered 
to a low pier, a plank of which yielded to my 
tread, and I stood before a wooden shed — the 
custom-house — which I was invited to enter by 
dark-complexioned officials with enormous hats. 

After the examination of luggage, which proved 
less severe than I anticipated, a number of porters 
shouldered boxes and portmanteaus, and we walked 
towards the only fonda (inn) in the place. 

Across an open space, where dark women and 
children were squatting before huts dimly lit 



FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MANZANILLO. 13 



by tiny lamps of palm-oil, I came to a narrow street, 
through which, on account of the crowds that 
thronged it, it was difficult to advance. 

All Manzanillo, it seemed, had turned out to 
enjoy the comparative coolness of the evening after 
the scorching heat of the day. There were the tall, 
mysterious figures of the men, dressed in white, 
with their wide -brimmed sombreros, and knife, 
sword, or pistol strapped round their waists ; the 
dark-skinned women, whose most substantial gar- 
ment was the cloth wrapped around their heads, 
their offspring in their arms ; children of every age 
playing amidst a crowd of dogs and pigs, — all 
mingling and moving. 

At the corner of the street, the company was 
grouped on doorsteps or squatting on the ground, 
listening to the melancholy strains of two musicians, 
who, on a fiddle and a contrabasso, performed a 
strange and plaintive air, that sounded like a tradi- 
tion of bygone generations. 

What a weird, bewildering scene ! It was as if 
I had entered another world ; as if what I heard 
and saw were scarcely real; as if the towering 
palm in the background were an optical illusion; 



14 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

as if the chirping of a million insects, and the 
hissing of the surf, were the phantoms of a fevered 
brain, or the visions of a trance. 

I was, however, soon convinced of the reality of 
the situation when the fonda was reached, and a 
low barn-like structure of adobe, roofed with straw, 
pointed out as the sleeping accommodation. I was 
allotted a small square space partitioned by boards, 
possessing no window, but provided with a small 
bed and a rough table. The former consisted of 
an iron frame, a canvas covering over a network 
of wire, and a mosquito-curtain, which meagre 
arrangement I found fully adequate to the require- 
ments of the climate. 

The heat of Manzanillo is proverbial, and a story 
which I heard related about it is too characteristic 
to be omitted. The legend runs that a soldier 
stationed here, who had not led the most exem- 
plary of lives, was, when 'he died, condemned to 
a region not usually named by polite society. 
Shortly, however, after his burial, his wife was not 
a little astonished to see her husband return, and 
beg her to give him his blanket, as he was afraid 
of catching cold in his new quarters. 



FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MANZANILLO. 15 

Manzanillo is situate in 19° 6' 45" north lati- 
tude, and 104° 32' 10" longitude west of Green- 
wich, on a fine circular bay, surrounded on all 
sides, excepting the narrow entrance from the sea, 
by a range of hills, clothed from head to foot 
with the richest and most varied vegetation. On 
the other side of these hills, and not two hundred 
yards from the ocean, lies an extensive lake of 
brackish water, the Laguna de Cuyutlan. The 
town is built partly along the narrow strip of 
land between the mountains and the bay, partly 
on a small open space formed by a gap in the 
heights, and bordered on one side by the sea, and 
on the other by the lake. It comprises three or 
four short, narrow streets, intersecting at right 
angles the principal thoroughfare, which runs 
parallel to the shore, and all are neatly paved 
with small round pebbles. The houses are, with 
few exceptions, one-storied, and either substan- 
tially constructed of adobe, or lightly built of 
wood ; all are protected by tiled, sloping roofs, 
on account of the heavy rains so frequent here in 
the wet season. There are a goodly collection of 
neatly - constructed huts, with thickly - thatched 



1G A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

roofs, distributed around the town on the slopes, 
belonging to a community of Indians. 

There is an attempt at a plaza, if a few benches 
placed on a small open space planted with half-a- 
dozen trees, may so be called, but the centre of 
the square is disfigured by hovels and stalls, where 
Indian women expose for sale the various fruits of 
the country, and sugar-cane in pieces. Here can 
be also purchased, for a very moderate sum, the 
cooling drinks, termed collectively agua fresca, and 
containing, besides water and sugar, the juice and 
seed of different fruits. 

Ascending one of the hills at the southern end 
of the beach, a lovely panorama of the little town 
and all its surroundings may be obtained. To 
the left stretch the blue waters of the tranquil 
sea, a portion of which, imprisoned by a huge 
ring of verdant hills, forms the prettiest bay ima- 
ginable. Two large sailing vessels, anchored a short 
distance from the shore, were discharging cargo 
into small lighters, and on the beach the sturdy 
little mules were receiving bales and cases, to be 
carried into the interior. The streets and 
houses, viewed from here, add a charming quaint- 



FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MANZANILLO. 17 

ness to the view ; their white walls and red-tiled 
roofs contrasted pleasantly with the deep green of 
the slopes, while the Indian huts, nestling irregu- 
larly amid the luxuriant herbage, imparted a 
wild individuality to the scene. From the peaks 
to the right, giant cacti stretch their perpendicular 
arms far above the trees and shrubs ; and beyond, 
the waters of the Laguna, fringed in the distance 
by the faint lines of the opposite shore, add a 
dreamy background to the' picture. 

The absence of the palm deprives this remarkable 
view of the element perhaps most conspicuous in a 
tropical landscape. But for this, a scene more 
perfect in the richness of its vegetation, more 
detailed in the harmonious gradations of its 
perspective, or more delicate with exquisite colour- 
ing and alternate lights and shadows, is scarcely 
conceivable. 

The Bay of Manzanillo forms a superior natural 
harbour. It is almost circular, and about six miles 
in diameter; its depth allows vessels of whatever 
tonnage to anchor within a short distance of the 
shore, while its entrance, about two miles in width, 
is free from bars or shallows. The town owes its 

B 



18 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

existence entirely to the harbour, and is nothing else 
but the port for Colima and a few smaller inland 
cities. Nothing, if we except the rickety pier 
before mentioned, has been attempted to improve 
the harbour, or facilitate the process of embarking 
and disembarking. The consequence is, that mer- 
chandise must be transferred to lighters, and 
finally brought ashore through the surf on the 
backs of porters. 

Three mercantile firms, all composed of Germans 
(natives of Hamburg), transact the entire trade of 
the port. They possess tastefully-built houses, with 
airy rooms and shady verandahs, situate on the 
beach near the landing-place. Substantial fences 
enclose yards, warehouses, and stables, the ap- 
proaches to which are all day thronged with 
mozos* arrierosj saddle-horses, and pack-mules, 
imparting to the locality the only appearance of life 
and prosperity it possesses. 

Manzanillo is an unhealthy place, especially at 
the end of the dry season (March and April), when 
the lake is almost devoid of moisture, and its bed 



* Mozo, literally, youth, lad, is the name given to all men-servants. 
+ Arriero, muleteer. 



FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MANZANILLO. 19 

cloaked with putrifying matter. Fever of an in- 
termittent type, termed calentura, is then very 
prevalent, and spares few of the inhabitants. 
Although rarely fatal it is weakening to a great 
degree, and its enfeebling effects are only too plainly 
observable in the emaciated and worn-out appearance 
of the resident Europeans and the majority of 
Mexicans. Even now (December), when the rains 
have ended, the healthiest month commenced, and 
the Laguna quite full of water, I saw several poor 
fellows in agonies, and shivering terrifically under 
their thick blankets, though the thermometer 
showed 100° in the shade. 

Owing to the proximity of the brackish contents of 
the lake, the water obtained at Manzanillo is most 
unwholesome, and unfit for drinking purposes. It 
is, however, procured in tolerably good quality from 
a small stream at a short distance up-country, 
whilst the troops of mules and donkeys which carry 
the liquid into the town, in large earthenware jars 
set in wooden frames, are associations inalienable 
from the place. 



CHAPTEE II. 

FROM MANZANILLO TO COLIMA. 

Early departures — A changeable lake — A curious steamer — Departure 
from Manzanillo — Uncomfortable thoughts — The Laguna de 
Cuyutlancillo — Cuyutlancillo — A straggling party — Mozos and their 
attire — Tropical forest — Organo cactus — Magnificent birds — An 
Indian village — The Rio de la Armeria — Frijoles — Tortillas — A 
small bill — Saddle-mules versus waggons — Hacienda de la Calera 
— Agua de Coco — A dark walk — The Via de Colima — Entrance into 
Colima — Fonda Hidalgo. 

All departures in Mexico, curiously enough, take 
place at unearthly hours. During my entire stay in 
the country, I never set forth on my journeys 
at what one could call a convenient time. When 
on horseback, your servants would impress you with 
the necessity of starting at five or six o'clock in 
the morning, in order, as they said, to avoid the 
heat of the midday sun ; but we proceeded on 
our route, as the result showed, as expeditiously 
during that time as any other, often reaching 
our destination at two or three in the afternoon, — 
a practical comment on the needlessness of their 



FROM MANZANILLO TO COLIMA. 21 

warnings. When travelling in the diligence, no 
matter what the distance or the time occupied 
in traversing it, the start was invariably fixed 
between two and five a.m. 

The reason for this I was unable to discover, 
but having been prepared beforehand for this idio- 
syncrasy, as common to Mexican travelling agents, 
I was not surprised to learn that the hour 
appointed for quitting Manzanillo was half-past 
three in the morning. This time, however, there 
did exist good reason, for without departing at 
that early hour, it would be impossible to reach 
Colima on the same day. 

The distance from the coast to the capital of the 
state is eighty miles, to accomplish which three dif- 
ferent modes of locomotion were to be employed. 

A steamer was to convey us thirty-five miles along 
the Laguna de Cuyutlan, mules the next eight 
miles, and the rest was to be performed in a waggon. 
These arrangements were made for us by one 
of the resident merchants, and, as far as speed 
was concerned, proved excellent. 

Had I arrived here a month earlier, I should 
have found the little steamer wedged powerlessly 



22 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

in the mud of the lake, instead of afloat as at 
present, and a ride of forty miles on muleback, 
or a drive of equal length over horrible roads, 
instead of an enchanting passage across the 
Laguna, would, have awaited me. Owing to the 
rapid evaporation of the lake, it is only during 
about four months of the year that it possesses 
sufficient water to float the steamer ; during the 
remaining months the Laguna is reduced to a 
conglomeration of large pools, which are often 
separated by miles of intervening bed. 

It is entirely due to the energy and enterprise of 

Mr M , the United States Consul at Colima, 

that this improved means of communication has 
been called into being. Two years ago nobody 
dreamt of it; now, during the few months the 
steamer runs, it is crowded on every trip with as 
many bales and cases as the tiny craft will hold. 
A canal, as the owner of the steamer suggested 
to me, of about three hundred yards in length 
at Manzanillo, would not only connect the sea 
with the lake, and allow merchandise to be taken 
off the ocean-vessels in boats, which could tran- 
sport it almost half the distance towards Colima, 



FROM MANZANILLO TO COLIMA. 23 

but would also keep the Laguna constantly full, 
thus ensuring means of navigation throughout 
the year, and removing the chief source of 
fever and other maladies with which Manzanillo 
is now afflicted; "but," he added with a signifi- 
cant look, "we are in Mexico, and not in the 
States." 

I examined the little steamer on the day before 
we were to use it, and though paying a full 
tribute of admiration to the energy that prompted 
its establishment, and grateful for the good 
fortune which afforded me such advantages, yet I 
could not suppress a smile at the first glimpse 
of a craft, which resembles anything else in the 
world rather than the purpose for which it is 
intended. Imagine a small Thames lighter, 
about thirty-five feet long and ten wide, with a 
square protuberance on either side, an upper deck 
supported by slight pillars, about ten feet above 
the water, with a small cabin and a wheelhouse 
on the top, and you have a faint idea of the sym- 
metrical proportions of the steamer on the Laguna 
de Cuyutlan. The engine is, perhaps, the great- 
est curiosity of all. It was, I believe, formerly 



24 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

employed in driving a small saw-mill at Colima, 
and has for years boasted the possession of a 
huge boiler, and tiny cylinders, whilst it still 
retains its old leather bands to transmit the 
motion to the paddle-wheels. 

In the early morning of December the 14th, 
all was prepared, and the little engine was fum- 
ing and fussing as if about to propel a five- 
thousand-ton packet across the ocean. 

I am uncertain whether it was the hissing noise 
which gave rise to the thought of a possible ex- 
plosion, or whether suspicious movements in the 
water reminded me of its slimy inhabitants, but I 
must confess that, as in the darkness of night 
I embarked, and groped blindly over bales, cases, 
and bundles, I could not repress a shudder when 
the idea flashed across my mind that it was just 
in the range of possibility that the funny box 
might smash, or explode in the middle of the 
lake, and we, ourselves, provide a dainty break- 
fast for the thousands of alligators with which 
it swarms. 

The Laguna de Cuyutlan runs north-west and 
south-east, parallel with the sea-shore, and is only 



FROM MANZANILLO TO COLIMA. 25 

divided from the ocean by a narrow strip of 
land. Its entire length is about forty miles, and 
its width varies between four and ten. It is 
almost completely enclosed by mangrove jungle, 
which overruns the banks, and creates numerous 
islets by its growth where the water is shallowest. 
It is not the large species, with giant stem and 
monster roots, but a small, shrub-like kind, so 
closely tangled as almost to form a solid mass ; 
while its sinuous roots by their mutual coils and 
circles, surpass the strongest wickerwork in con- 
sistency. 

This jungle extends for miles, — an unbroken wall 
of sombre foliage ; nor is the Laguna often 
visible to the traveller for the long islands, 
that by their parallel position enclose narrow 
and river-like channels. A peculiarity of this 
jungle is its uniform shape, both in height and 
width, which recalls our own neat hedgerows so 
vividly that the English spectator is almost 
tempted to believe that an army of gardeners 
have clipped and trimmed it with their careful 
shears. 

There is no variety in the vegetation ; mangroves 



26 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

jealously monopolise all available space. The 
stagnant waters are covered with a brownish- 
green slime, which, where intermixed with the 
fallen branches of a tree, or a collection of withered 
leaves, forms small floating islands ; and the little 
craft, as she steamed along, cleaved through the 
thick viscous surface, and disclosed the dark, 
turbid liquid below. 

At intervals, a black uneven line, glimmering 
above the ooze, would betray the presence of an 
ugly alligator, whilst a hundred divers, conscious 
of their agility, and careless of the neighbouring 
monster, bobbed merrily up and down, as if 
playing hide and seek with the rest of the 
world. 

Some spots were literally crowded with nume- 
rous varieties of ducks and teal, which, though 
little used to disturbances of this kind, allowed 
the steamer to approach within a few yards 
before they sought to escape. Their cackling, 
too, would often alarm a company of huge white 
cranes, quietly congregated on a sandbank, and 
compel them, with one accord, to spread their lazy 
wings and seek some other fishing-ground. 



FROM MANZANILLO TO COLIMA. 27 

On the floating islands, proud storks and sedate 
melancholy herons were engaged in catching and 
consuming their breakfast, whilst every nook of 
the mangrove thickets, every shallow in the lake, 
every log of wood on the water, was tenanted by 
all manner of birds, including alike the busy wagtail, 
the grandfatherly pelican, and the stately flamingo. 
As we cut the placid waters, a brace of neat 
sand-pipers or a swift kingfisher, scared by the 
snort of the engine, would suddenly emerge from 
the margin of the channel, and, darting ahead, 
be again frightened into the air almost before they 
had settled. 

Soaring in graceful circles far overhead, a variety 
of hawks view the scene from aloft, ready to 
pounce upon whatever appears an easy prey, 
whilst thousands of dark-blue glittering swallows 
hurry from island to island, feeding plenteously 
on the myriads of insects that hover above the 
water. 

As the south-east end of the Laguna is approached, 
the mangrove jungle ceases, and the entire expanse 
of the lake is seen disclosing the hills that border 
the waters to the northward, with their robe of 



28 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

clustering oil-palms ; while to the rear, range after 
range of rising mountains are at length crowned 
by the snow-capped peak of the majestic Vol- 
can de Colima in the far distance. 

At 10 a.m. we arrived at Cuyutlancillo, as the 
landing-place at the extremity of the Laguna is 
called, representing a large wooden, shed on the 
beach, used as a storehouse for the goods tran- 
sported by the steamer, and half-a-dozen native 
huts sparsely distributed over the ground in the 
vicinity. Here we found mozos as well as riding 
and pack mules in attendance, ready to convey us 
and our luggage to the Eio de la Armeria, 
Without much delay, bags and portmanteaus were 
transferred from the steamer to the pack-saddles, 
and as the place was intensely hot, without one 
object of interest to prompt a longer stay, we were 
ourselves on the saddle and the road before an 
hour had elapsed. As four mules were required 
for the luggage, and as our five mozos were all 
mounted, the little caravan comprised twelve 
animals guarded by eight riders ; and as it is a 
most difficult matter, where no danger is appre- 
hended, to make Mexican servants understand 



Sheet 3. 



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FROM MANZANILLO TO COLIMA. 29 

that they are to keep together, our party was 
scattered over half-a-mile of the road before we had 
been ten minutes on the move. 

The mozos were dressed in the usual costume 
of their order — white or pale pink cotton jacket 
and drawers, the latter supplemented by leather 
trousers slit open on the outside from the knee to 
the ground ; on their heads was the capacious 
sombrero, or wide-brimmed hat, manufactured of 
palm-leaf straw or felt. Both the latter and the 
leather trousers are garments admirably adapted 
to the requirements of the country and climate. 

In a land where to ride is almost as usual as 
to walk, and where at the same time the heat is 
intense, this open, leather habiliment combines cool- 
ness with substantial protection against the hard- 
ness of the Mexican saddle, whilst the sombrero, 
although heavy, is a capital guard against the 
fierce rays of a tropical sun, and renders the use 
of a sun-shade superfluous. 

Boots or shoes are rarely worn by Indians and 
half-castes ; they use compact sandals of strong 
leather. 

From Cuyutlancillo to the Paso del Eio de la 



30 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Armeria is about eight miles in distance, and when 
the river is low enough to permit vehicles to ford 
over, the entire road from the lake to Colima 
(fifty-five miles in all) can be traversed on wheels ; 
but at present the Eio is still too high to allow 
of this. This proved eventually a most fortunate 
circumstance, as the ride to the river was enjoy- 
able in the extreme, whilst the drive thence to 
Colima was anything but agreeable. 

From the lake a wide path of soft sandy 
soil winds through forests of impenetrable and 
most fruitful undergrowth. The trees are not 
large, but are so interwoven as to form impassable 
barriers, even apart from the bushes and shrubs 
that spring from every spot of vacant ground. 
Hundreds of creepers cling to every trunk, and 
twine round every branch, connecting by a thou- 
sand wiry threads thickets, shrubs, and cacti, — 
a massive bulwark of profuse vegetation, through 
which the axe alone can hew a way. The huge 
organo cactus, with its tree-like stem, often two 
feet in diameter, and ten to fifteen feet high, sends 
up its stiff, straight branches to a height of 
thirty or forty feet from the ground, whilst the 



FROM MANZANILLO TO COLIMA. 31 

smaller species mingle in thousands with the 
shrubs and bushes nearer the earth. Wherever 
the creepers may have neglected trunk or bough, 
prolific parasites, gay alike with taper leaf and 
gorgeous blossom, hasten to perform their part 
in this fairy work of nature. The flowers have 
little scent, but their profusion of white, yellow, 
and red blended with the countless shades of 
green, charm the eye with tints as various as 
they are magnificent. 

This teeming region of vegetable life is the haunt 
of birds, which, for brightness of plumage, equal, 
if not surpass, those on the Laguna. Parrots, re- 
splendent with red and green, flew away screeching 
as we approached, whilst tiny humming-birds with 
their golden hues were darting hither and thither, 
till they disappeared in the bushes. Graceful birds, 
with glistening feathers of a bluish-black and 
pointed beak, seemed here as common as our 
crows, and like them divided their attention 
between ravenous hunger and timid flight. 

This portion of the tierra caliente and the La- 
guna de Cuyutlan is a most fertile fie]d for orni- 
thological research, and I have no hesitation in 



32 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

saying that there exists here many a species as 
yet undescribed. 

As we approached the Kio, the country gradu- 
ally became more open ; we traversed sunny plots 
of green sward, more similar to a garden or 
park than to land almost untouched by human 
hand. Here we saw wild turkeys, a kind of 
partridge, numbers of buzzards, the now familiar 
swallows, vultures perched calmly on the very 
top of the tallest trees, and sentinel hawks which 
watched the scene from far aloft. 

We soon entered a small Indian village, perched 
on the height that bounds the river, and con- 
sisting of a few well-built and neatly-thatched 
huts ranged on either side of the road. 

Before each of these homesteads bananas, oranges, 
water-melons, and other fruits, were exhibited for 
sale on a little stand, whilst the inmates, men, 
women, and children, were grouped under the open 
verandah, and busied in the sympathetic task of 
removing another genus of prolific parasite, an 
occupation not rare among the lower classes of all 
tropical and semi-tropical countries. Their costume 
is of the lightest possible description ; the 



FROM MANZANILLO TO COLIMA. 33 

upper part of the body is left almost bare, 
though the immense sombrero is never omitted. 
We passed the village without a halt, and 
descending the high bank, followed one of the 
mozos through the river, which, however, was so 
high and rapid that we were thoroughly drenched 
before the opposite shore was gained. 

The Eio de la Armeria, during the dry season, 
dwindles to a shallow stream hardly more than fifty 
yards in width, though at this time a large 
volume of water, filling the entire bed (which was 
about a hundred and fifty yards wide), came 
thundering down its rocky course with a seeth- 
ing and impetuous current. 

Arrived on the other side, we dismounted at 
a hacienda, where a rude and rickety waggon 
was waiting to take us on to Colima. Before 
we proceeded, however, we sat down to a 
tempting meal of several courses, the last of which 
was the usual termination to every Mexican repast, 
the dish of frijoles. I had already made their ac- 
quaintance at Manzanillo, and until I quitted Mexi- 
can soil on the shores of the Atlantic, they 
continued my tried and trusty companions. 



34 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Frijoles are small brown beans, stewed in lard, 
and palatably seasoned, resembling, in outward 
appearance more than in taste, the "fool" of the 
Arabs, a mess prepared in a similar manner minus 
the lard. Unlike the majority of national Mexican 
dishes, the savoury flavour of frijoles is appreciated 
by the foreigner, who soon accustoms himself to 
them, either plain or with the addition of grated 
cheese or chile, which latter (pod as well as seeds) 
is a favourite adjunct to every course served on a 
Mexican table. 

Frijoles are invariably accompanied by tortillas, 
the peculiar native substitute for bread. During my 
progress across the country, I had frequent oppor- 
tunities of seeing them prepared. Half-boiled 
maize, mixed with the requisite quantity of water, 
is ground between a small sloping slab of stone 
and a stone -roller (both metate and roller are gene- 
rally made of lava), until the paste has attained the 
consistency of tough, leathery dough, when it is 
patted between the hands into thin cakes equal in 
size to our small plate, and in thickness to ordinary 
card-board. They are next quickly baked between 
heated stones, and are then eaten while still hot. 



FROM MANZANILLO TO CO LIMA. 35 

As the Indians, and indeed all the poorer natives, 
are unacquainted with forks and spoons, a piece of 
tortilla serves them as a substitute, and it is amusing 
to see the dexterity with which these people eat their 
frijoles with the aid of a spoon, which itself disappears 
with the last mouthful of beans. Novices, as a 
rule, find the warm, damp, flabby tortilla, insipid and 
unpalatable, but the veterans are as fond of them as 
the Indians themselves. 

Whilst we were at table, the pack-mules and the 
attending mozos walked into the quadrangle, there 
to rest awhile, and follow us at their leisure whilst 
we preceded them in the waggon. 

Five dollars was all we paid for dinner supplied 
to ourselves and the mozos, eight persons in all, 
besides fodder for twelve mules — amazingly cheap 
when compared with Californian charges. 

At two o'clock in the afternoon we resumed our 
journey, and were soon bumping and jolting over a 
villainous road, along which the two wretched 
mules could hardly drag the rumbling vehicle. 
We much regretted the change. The elastic 
tread of the nimble saddle -mules had hith- 
erto carried us pleasantly over the execrable 



36 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

paths, and the Mexican saddles, though awkward 
at first, proved easy in long rides; now, however, 
we had to endure shocks and shakes, the effects of 
stones and ruts, which were far from being 
palliated by the waggon's worn-out springs. If the 
miserable mules halted for a second, where a bad 
place had over-taxed their powers, the cochero would 
unmercifully whip the poor little brutes, or throw 
stones at them, accompanying his active demonstra- 
tions with shouts and exclamations flavoured with 
a selection of expletives,, which, although uttered in 
Spanish, it would be impossible to mention here. 
The strength and endurance of these little mulas is 
really wonderful. Their outward appearance is so 
very unfavourable that it seemed impossible for 
them to draw the waggon over the first mile ; but 
they warmed to their work to such a degree, that, 
at the conclusion of their twenty miles' stage, they 
appeared fresher than at starting. 

The country through which we travelled was 
similar to that on the other side of the river. 
As we progressed the sandy soil vanished, and 
gravel and rock took its place, whilst the vegetation 
became more sparse, and Indian villages frequent. 



FROM MANZANILLO TO COLIMA. 37 

A little further on, the country grew more exposed 
and cultivated ; fields appeared here and there, 
dotted over with huts, and pleasingly relieved 
by picturesque plantations of cocoa-palms and 
bananas. 

At five o'clock we came to a hacienda 
called La Calera, where we stopped to procure a 
change of mules. This hacienda is a large building 
encircled by wooden palings gaudily painted, and 
surrounded by numerous huts cosily sheltered by 
shady trees. Whilst a man on horseback was en- 
gaged in catching the animals with a lazo in the 
spacious corral adjacent to the house, we entered 
the broad verandah, and were treated to some 
delicious agua de coco by the hospitable manager 
of the estate. Of all refreshing drinks, none can 
compare with the milk, or rather water, of the 
green, unripe cocoa-nut ; and parched as we were by 
heat and dust, the cool, clear liquid, with its slight 
admixture of carbonic acid, was thoroughly relished. 

In the meantime the two mules had been caught 
and sent forward on the road to be changed a few 
miles ahead, and resuming our seats in the waggon, 
we continued on our rough path. 



38 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Ever since leaving the Rio de la Armeria we 
had been gently and gradually ascending, and we now 
perceived more distinctly the rising nature of the 
ground. When evening came, we were toiling up 
hills, overgrown with the richest verdure, and 
jolting over a tedious road furrowed with ruts 
and strewn with rock. One height passed, and 
a steep descent, over a small river or a gulch, 
would lead us to a renewed incline loftier than 
that preceding, and as this was repeated for hours, 
we at last stepped out to lighten the load, and 
followed the waggon on foot over stones, holes, 
and waterpools. 

Although assured by every one that the road 
was perfectly safe the whole way from the coast 
to Colima, we could not forget the many stories 
we had heard about robbers and kidnappers in 
Mexico generally. 

From the lake to the Rio, we were accompanied 
by five mozos armed with the straight sword 
of the country, called the macheta, and constantly 
on the look-out; but we were now alone, and 
were travelling not in the confidence-inspiring 
daylight, but through a hilly forest in the pitchiest 



FROM MANZANILLO TO COLIMA. 39 

of nights. I confess I could not repress some 
anxiety as we followed the waggon in utter 
darkness, and often through narrow defiles of rock ; 

and even Mr L , who has passed thirty years 

of his life in the country, was not wholly at his ease. 
On we tramped, however, patiently and silently, 
revolver in hand, until all the hills and streams 
were safely passed, and we were once more seated 
in the waggon. 

We now entered a spacious road, the Via de 
Colima, which leads for five miles through the 
splendid valley of Colima up to the town itself. 

Whenever we were on higher ground, a few 
dim lights in the distance would indicate the 
direction of the city. Again and again the 
lights disappeared as we descended into hollows, 
but only to shine out more distinctly as we 
attained the summit of the next hillock. At length 
we were past the huts that line both sides of 
the road, past the long stone fences that encircle 
plantations and haciendas, and finally entered the 
narrow streets of Colima, whose pebbly pave- 
ment caused the waggon to shake and shiver 
as if it were going to fall to bits. The cochero 



40 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

exerted himself to end the day's work with a 
flourish, and cracked his whip with a vehemence 
that set the poor mules galloping over the cruel 
stones as if it were the commencement, and not 
the close, of their journey. So we threaded 
street after street, and turned many a sharp 
corner, where watchmen with large lanterns were 
keeping guard, as in Europe centuries ago ; and 
finally at ten o'clock halted before the modest 
house of the Fonda Hidalgo, the best inn of the 
town. 

The remarkably stout landlady, after pointing 
out to us our primitive bedrooms in the immediate 
vicinity of the stable, prepared a speedy supper, 
and we sat down to a substantial meal of 
frijoles, and other dishes in which garlic distinctly 
predominated. 



CHAPTER III. 

COLIMA. 

A pleasant change— Situation of Colinia — Climate — Fever — Streets and 
houses — The plaza — Its four sides — The Plaza Nueva — The Bio de 
Colima — Baths — Wonderful gardens — A vuelta on the plaza — 
Appearance of the people — Their dress — Charro — Modes de Colima 
— The theatre — The market — Cotton factories — Clever artisans — 
Position and productions of the State of Colima — Produce for 
home consumption and export — Import trade — Mexican promo- 
tion — Bespectable Governors. 

The morning after our arrival (15th of December) 
we were most kindly invited to exchange the indif- 
ferent quarters in the fonda for others in the 
luxurious house of some German merchants — 
an invitation which we were only too glad to accept, 
and we soon found ourselves in the enjoyment of 
the most perfect accommodation imaginable in this 
part of the globe. 

My stay in Colima extended over five days, and 
as this time was assiduously employed in exploring 
the town and its vicinity, very little was, I think, 
left unseen. 

Colima marks the site of an Indian town 



42 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

before the conquest, in north lat. 19° 11/ and long. 
103° 46' 30" west of Greenwich, on the river 
of the same name, and in a fine valley of great 
extent, entirely surrounded by mountains, amongst 
whieh the lofty Volcan de Colima towers royally 
above all others on the northern horizon. 

The town numbers 25,000 inhabitants, the 
great majority of whom are Indians and mestizos, 
whose claim to an admixture of Spanish blood seems 
very remote. Situate as it is at an elevation 
of about 1500 feet above the level of the sea, its 
climate is superior to that of the coast, and the tem- 
perature somewhat lower. The heat, however, in the 
middle of the day, is such as to render a walk 
no painless task ; and the streets are generally 
deserted from an hour after sunrise until towards 
sunset. 

Calentura, although much less prevalent than in 
Manzanillo, is not uncommon, and a prolonged 
residence in the city acts in a most detrimental 
manner on the health of Europeans and North 
Americans, as, I am sorry to say, I found ample 
means of judging. 

The town is laid out in long, straight streets, 



COLIMA. 43 



about thirty feet wide, paved with large round 
pebbles (cobble-stones, as they say in the States), 
and lined with solidly -built brick or adobe houses. 
In the better quarters the latter are plastered over, 
whitewashed, and often ornamented with a few 
lines or arabesques of motley patterns, not 
dissimilar from the coloured walls of Southern 
Italy. The buildings generally contain the ground- 
floor alone, and are flat -roofed. The better class 
possess lofty and spacious rooms, all opening on 
to a verandah which runs round the four sides 
of an interior square yard, the plan already 
noticed at Mazatlan. 

This open verandah serves as sitting-room, and 
the table is frequently laid there in preference to 
the inner apartments ; at night a portion of it 
forms the sleeping-place for the servants, and it is 
altogether the most important part of the edifice, 
especially in the tierra caliente. Banana plants, 
coffee and orange trees, as well as shrubs and 
flowers, convert the inner yard into a fragrant 
garden, and often a plashing fountain imparts 
coolness and freshness to the air. Towards the 
street the buildings, however beautiful within, 



44 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

present a dull and monotonous appearance, the 
exterior including but a large gateway with 
heavy, antique locks, and a row of iron -barred 
windows, whilst from the flat roofs jut forth 
horizontally a number of iron pipes, sometimes 
grotesquely ornamented, and intended to drain 
the water from the azotea* 

As the style of architecture is usually the same, 
the streets for the most part resemble one another ; 
and as they are all of one width, with no shop- 
windows to act as sign -posts, it is a difficult 
matter for the stranger to find his way. 

The almost total absence of carriages and wag- 
gons renders Colima peculiarly quiet ; and when 
once the sun has fairly risen above the horizon, 
the streets would be entirely deserted, were it not 
for a few mules marching on under their heavy 
loads of long alfalfa grass, maize -straw, pottery 
or water -jars, or an occasional train of mulas de 
cargo conveying merchandise into the town, and 
escorted by arrieros on horseback. 

In the early morning the streets are lively, 
and crowded with natives on their way to or 

* Azotea, literally platform, is the name given to the flat roofs in Mexico. 






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COLIMA. 45 



from market, mozos carrying loads from one 
house to another, water-carriers laden with the 
day's supply, and a hundred more incidentals of 
domestic life. In the evening, a great portion 
of the population walk out, mostly towards the 
public square or garden, where they enjoy the 
customary vuelta. 

The public square, or Plaza de Armas, or simply 
the Plaza, is here, as in every other Mexican town, 
the centre of out -door life. It is an open space 
of about eighty yards square. On the eastern side 
stand the remains of an old cathedral, which could 
never, even previous to the ravages of ruin, have 
been a comely structure ; and next to it rises a 
long, two-storied pile, which, far advanced on 
the road to destruction, retains but few remnants 
of its original plaster and whitewash, and with its 
gaping patches of brick and stone looks as if it 
had never been completed. Some of the windows 
are entirely or partly blocked with rough masonry, 
whilst the others are mere apertures in the wall, 
alike destitute of glass or iron. 

This is at once the chief guard-house, the 
State prison, and the office of the Mayoria de 



46 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Plaza. In the large square gateway a number 
of soldiers, whose dark complexions denote them 
to be Indians, clad in uniforms of white canvas, are 
always loitering, whilst all through the day a 
couple of buglers will issue forth, and shock the 
ear with terribly discordant blasts from instruments 
which evidently never were attuned to one another. 

The northern side of the Plaza displays the 
finest buildings in Colima ; a row of houses in 
the Moorish style, two-storied, with the upper 
floor erected over the pavement so as to form a 
covered pathway, gracefully arched, from one end 
of the square to the other. The upper part of 
these houses is used for private residences, whilst 
the ground -floor is employed as shops, the best in 
the town. The two remaining sides of the Plaza 
are lined with buildings of an inferior type, 
strangely contrasting with those just mentioned. In 
the centre of the square a large circular fountain 
furnishes the neighbourhood with a plentiful 
supply of water, whilst at the edges of the 
quadrangle runs a broad walk planted with orange 
and lime trees, and provided at short intervals 
with clumsy benches of adobe, stuccoed and 



. 




COLIMA. 47 



painted pink. These benches, however, are so high 
that only giants can sit on them if they would rest 
both their bodies and their feet at the same time. 

The Alameda on the Plaza Nueva is a small but 
shady and pleasant public garden. It covers scarcely 
more ground than the plaza, is surrounded by high 
walls, furnished with iron gates. The interior is 
richly wooded with different trees, among which 
palms, oleander, orange, and lemon are the most 
conspicuous, whilst bananas with their enormous 
leaves, and loads of fruit hanging in thick, heavy 
clusters, render the scene truly tropical. 

Walks tastefully laid out, and well kept, meet 
at a pretty fountain, whose ample basin harbours 
two giant cranes, and many other waterbirds. A 
portion of the Alameda is reserved and apportioned, 
in small square plots, to private people as sepa- 
rate gardens for themselves. A number of these 
are most daintily arranged, fenced round with a neat 
paling of wood, and possessing besides many curious 
plants, little jets of water, decorations of figures and 
shells, and snug seats under branching trees. 

Through the city runs the Eio de Colima, a 
small stream at this time of year, divided into 



48 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

several shallow and narrow arms flowing over a 
wide bed. In the middle of the rainy season 
this becomes brimful; at the time of my visit, 
however (December), there was only sufficient water 
to supply the numerous baths erected along its 
course, and the temporary laundry establishments. 

The baths embrace numbers of small square 
basins through which the stream is led. They are 
partitioned by solid stone walls, and left open at 
the top. 

The views along the river bed are extremely 
picturesque. Gardens and plantations on either side 
brighten the landscape with palms and bananas, 
whilst huts, baths, and thickets of green in the very 
watercourse, diversify its outlines. 

Owing to the attention and kindness of my amiable 
hosts, my sojourn in Colima passed most pleasantly. 
Excursions into the neighbourhood, as well as rides 
through the suburbs, were undertaken every morn- 
ing at sunrise, when the coolness of the atmosphere 
and the freshness of the surroundings enhanced a 
hundred times the natural beauties of this favoured 
spot. A plunge into a spacious swimming bath, 
specially reserved for the use of the foreign residents, 



COLIMA. 40 



inaugurated the day ; and before long a visit was 
generally paid to one of the magnificent fruit-gardens 
in the immediate vicinity of the town. 

Pen and fancy are alike baffled by the prodigal 
wealth of vegetable life that greets the eye on 
its first glance at these gardens ; impenetrable tracts 
of trees and shrubs, uncurbed in their lavish 
freedom, vast fortresses of vegetation through which 
the sun's rays fail to pierce, seem as wild as 
they are wonderful ; a closer inspection, however, 
finds these forests crossed and recrossed by narrow 
paths and small ditches, and reveals a method amid 
all this apparent confusion. Blossoms of splendid 
hue on one tree, fruit in extravagant abundance on 
another, leaves of every sort and shape, verdure in 
all its grotesquely curved forms, cacti and creepers 
trailing like serpents on the ground ; — what a 
strange epitome of tropical luxuriance ! 

The mere endeavour to enumerate all the various 
plants and fruits cultivated in these gardens woidd 
be presumptuous ; a few, however, I noted down 
at the time. 

Besides the familiar cocoa-palm, the different 
kinds of plantains or bananas, and the many 

D 



50 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

varieties of orange, lemon, and lime trees, there are 
cacao-trees, which rejoice in the native name of 
Cacahoaquahuitl (Theobroma cacao), with their 
fruit, the main substance of chocolate, growing 
out of the trunk, the coffee-shrub (Coffea Arabica), 
the zapote (Casimiroa edulis), the guava or gua- 
yava (Psidium guaiava), the mango (Mangifera In- 
dica), the mamey (Lucuma mammosa), the granadita 
or granadilla de China (Passiflora quadrangularis), 
the chirimoya or chirimolla (Anona cherimolia), the 
pine-apple or pina {Ananassa sativa), the aguacate 
(Per sea gratissima). 

These gardens belong to wealthy citizens, and are 
under the charge of managers, who sell their produce 
for the owners, or are rather supposed to do so. 
The contents of a green cocoa-nut opened at the 
lodge, was the usual and invigorating conclusion of 
a walk round these marvellous plantations. 

In the evening, after dinner, it is the custom 
to take the air on the plaza. Every other day a 
military band stations itself in the centre of the 
square near the fountain, and performs there between 
the hours of seven and nine, whilst all the world 
and his wife are engaged in mild exercise or 



COLIMA. 51 



cool repose on the stone benches. The plaza 
thus affords a favourable opportunity for observing 
its visitors in the silvery light of the evening 
moon. 

I had heard much when in the United States, 
and especially in California, about the beauty of 
Mexican women ; but this praise proved the exag- 
geration not unfrequently bestowed on strange and 
unknown objects, the mere remoteness of which, both 
as regards distance and knowledge, endows them 
with qualities they in nowise possess. As far as 
Colima is concerned, I did not meet with a single 
face that could be called beautiful, or even pretty ; 
and my subsequent experience of the Republic offered 
no inducement to improve my original opinion. 
Nine -tenths of the population are Indians, either 
pure-blooded or with an admixture, more or less 
remote, of European blood, their colour ranging 
between a dark coppery-brown and a pale yellow. 
Whilst the men are generally well-made, some- 
what tall and muscular, the women, as a rule, 
are small and slight. They almost always possess 
large black eyes, remarkably white, regular teeth, 
and luxuriant, straight, jet-black hair. But here all 



52 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

their beauty ends, and ill-shaped noses, large 
mouths, and often prominent cheek-bones, destroy 
all the advantages derived from their other per- 
fections! I do not, of course, here include the 
descendants of pure Spanish blood, who naturally 
rank in this respect with their European kins- 
men. 

The climate of Colima, and the tierra caliente 
generally, renders very light clothing a neces- 
sity. 

The white or pink cotton trousers and jacket of 
the men of the lower orders have already been 
mentioned ; the women of the same class wear an 
ordinary gown of light texture, as a rule gaudy 
in its colour, whilst from the waist upwards they 
confine themselves to the camisa of thin white 
cotton, which exposes as much as it conceals. It 
is only when going away from home for some 
distance that they wear the rebozo folded round 
head and shoulders, a large head-cloth, often of a 
dark blue material with very thin white stripes. 

The men of the better classes, which in proportion 
to the entire population are inconsiderable, dress 
either in the European style, or in charro, as the 



COLIMA. 35 



natives designate the old Mexican costume. The 
latter, for ordinary wear, is gradually becoming 
obsolete, but is generally used for riding. It con- 
sists of leather trousers, slit open from the knee 
downwards on the outside of both legs, and disclosing 
the white drawers worn underneath, and a short 
jacket of cloth or leather faced with braiding. 
Mexican beaux delight in a gorgeous display of 
silver buttons, buckles, and lacing both on trousers 
and jacket, which, with the silver plating of the 
heavy Mexican saddle, appear pompous and showy. 
As all their horses, however, are small, rider, saddle, 
and steed seem sadly out of proportion. 

For riding, large sixteenth-century boots of light 
brown leather are often preferred to the chaparer- 
ras, as the leather trousers are denominated ; and 
huge spurs, such as belong to the stage in the 
performance of a Shakesperian play, are rarely 
omitted. The sombrero, blazing at times with rich 
gold or silver trimmings, heads every description 
of Mexican costume. 

The ladies of Colima are not distinguished for the 
good taste exhibited in their dress, and although 
the newest Paris fashions can hardly be expected 



54 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

to penetrate into this out-of-the-way corner of the 
world, yet, where nature has created such perfect 
combinations of colour and form, one might hope 
to see more perception on their part with regard to 
personal attire. They use the most decided and 
conspicuous colours, sometimes in the most atrocious 
mixtures. Thus the dress of bright scarlet is often 
relieved by a sash of glaring yellow, or a gown 
as green as grass will be set off by deep-blue 
trimmings. A lady in a dress of intermediate hue 
is a rarity ; it is sure to be either a very pronounced 
blue, or a very pronounced green, or a very pro- 
nounced red ; and there are few who, disdaining 
show, adopt a suit of modest black. 

But it must be remembered that I have only 
been speaking of extraordinary and holiday cos- 
tumes ; at ordinary times, printed muslin or 
cotton dresses, out of which, as a rule, all colour 
has been washed, lend to the belles of Colima 
an almost menial appearance. Gloves are almost 
entirely dispensed with, and instead of hat or 
bonnet, the rebozo, or the more refined Spanish 
mantilla, droops over head and shoulders. Dresses, 
as well as other items of ladies' attire, appear to 



COLIMA. 55 



be ill-made, and render their otherwise shapely 
figures unsightly ; add to this a naturally awkward 
and rather waddling gait, and the exterior of 
Colima's daughters cannot be called graceful. 

One evening we visited the theatre. A troupe 
that had been previously performing in the South 
and Central American coast towns was to act some 
Spanish piece ; and as the performances take place 
only twice a week, all Colima was astir not to 
miss the fun. 

Shape and purpose are the sole points in which 
this theatre resembles a civilised playhouse, other- 
wise it is the most singular building of its kind. 
Its construction is of the rudest possible description, 
and the interior, with its rough poles and planks, 
is ludicrously suggestive of a builders scaffolding. 
Two common poles, coupled half-way with coarse 
ropes, form the pillars supporting the tiers, which 
latter, as indeed everything else, are rudely con- 
structed of rough deal boards. Beyond a little 
whitewash, no attempt is made to disguise the 
matiere premiere, and the wood is often left as the 
tree grew it. 

The ceiling is of canvas tightly fastened to the 



56 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

sides, and the chandelier a wooden frame of two 
squares, lined with small tin pots filled with palm- 
oil. 

The whole arrangement savoured of a large booth 
at a fair or race-meeting at home; indeed, I have 
seen better structures of a temporary kind than the 
teatro in Colima, which is of the same capacity as 
the St James's in London, and adapted for as many 
people. There are two tiers above the ground-floor ; 
on the latter (the bare earth), rude benches arranged 
in rows, with a gangway down the middle, occupy 
the portion generally allotted to stalls and pit. The 
box-tiers on the ground and first floors are open 
galleries, separated by wooden railings, about a foot 
high, into partitions, presenting towards the front 
a rude wooden balustrade, so low that the 
spectators seemed in constant danger of an airy 
passage into the pit. The tier on the second floor 
forms the gallery. The planks which compose the 
floor of the latter are not even uniformly 
adjusted, and there is no railing of any kind. 
The audience comprehended all the various 
elements of this odd population, from the foreign 
merchants with their families down to the yellow 



COLIMA. 57 



mestizo and brown Indian. The gods, nearly all 
Indians, were seated on the edge of the boards, 
their white-trousered legs dangling in the air, and 
all but touching the heads of the people in the 
boxes beneath, whilst the women were standing 
or squatting about in all directions. The box-tiers 
were filled with ladies attired in the most gairish 
of colours, and looking like so many parrots ; 
whilst the pit was occupied by men dressed in 
charro, or the more sober costume of Europe. It 
was indeed a remarkable medley of motley garbs 
and quaint figures. 

The acting, considering the house, was tolerably 
fair ; but it was impossible, on account of the intense 
heat, to see it out, and I was thankful when the 
rag of a white canvas curtain, with a paper angel 
pasted on the middle, closed upon the first act, and 
allowed me to escape into the cool night air. 

Near the plaza is the market, which is held in 
a small place furnished with a number of stalls. 
The principal dealers occupy the latter, whilst a 
large proportion of produce is displayed on the 
ground in the neighbouring streets, under the shade 
of large square pieces of matting suspended on 



58 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

centre poles, like huge umbrellas. The articles offered 
for sale are of the most varied nature. 

Besides the butcher's assortment of fresh and dried 
meats, and the baker's stock of small flat rolls and 
multifarious pan dulce (sweet biscuits or small 
cakes), there are all the numberless fruits of this 
prolific region — sugar-cane entire or in pieces, 
water-melons, yams, and countless other vegeta- 
bles, amongst which chile and three or four species 
of beans are the most plentifully represented. 
Maize, rice, coffee, and tobacco are displayed in 
great abundance ; whilst in another direction the 
brown earthenware of the country, large sombreros 
made of coarse straw, and an odd mixture of 
common German and Birmingham knick-knacks, are 
exhibited. Some half-dozen stalls are reserved for 
saddlery and other leather goods of native work- 
manship, as well as sarapes, fajas* and rebozos. 
These goods are hawked all day on the square and 
adjacent streets by itinerant dealers, who, as a 
rule, select a bench in the plaza for the deposi- 
tory of their wares when tired. 

* Fajas are long narrow cloths used to secure the trousers round the waist ; 
they are generally of a red colour. 



COLIMA. 59 



Maize and rice straw, alfalfa grass, small lots 
of cotton, as well as of charcoal, take up a con- 
siderable space of the market, whilst every vacant 
corner is devoted to a vendor of dulces (sweetmeats) 
or agua fresca. Sunday is the chief market- 
day, and from sunrise to about eight o'clock no 
more animated and picturesque scene than is here 
presented can be conceived. The people from the 
surrounding country, pure Indians for the most 
part, come to town for the occasion, bringing their 
produce for sale, and buying supplies with the pro- 
ceeds. Nor can the chattering, laughing, and eager 
bargaining of the whole assemblage be equalled 
by any but negroes under similar circumstances, 
as notorious in the markets of Havana and other 
cities in the West Indies. The diversity of phy- 
siognomies, however, as well as of costume and 
colour, renders the market in Colima, and those of 
Mexico generally, superior in interest, both human 
and artistic. 

There are three cotton factories near Colima, the 
owners and managers of which are all foreigners. 
The largest of these establishments is the San 
Cuyatano mill, which, at the time of my visit, 



60 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

was not working on account of financial diffi- 
culties with which its administrators were ham- 
pered. The Atrevida and the Armonia are 
smaller factories. I only visited the latter, a well- 
arranged and neatly-kept place, possessing fine 
English machinery of quite modern date. These 
manufactories produce coarse yarns, and a common 
kind of grey shirting known as nianta. The 
cotton consumed is nearly all grown in the State 
of Colima, and the hands employed are Indian and 
half-caste women and girls, who, I am told, are most 
efficient at their work. 

The native population are clever at every sort of 
handiwork. I had occasion to admire the expe- 
ditious skill of a native tailor, bootmaker, and sad- 
dler. A day and a half before my departure I 
had ordered a charro jacket, a pair of high riding- 
boots, and a revolver-belt; and true to the minute 
I received each article, well finished and fitting 
admirably. As a stranger I was charged full Cali- 
fornian prices, but a resident would doubtless have 
been supplied cheaply. 

The State of Colima is one of the smallest in the 
Republic, and originally was included in the State 



CO LIMA. 61 



of Jalisco. It covers an area of about 2500 square 
miles, and numbers about 60,000 inhabitants. 

Its geographical position, north and south of the 
19th degree of north latitude, and its gradual 
ascent from the sea-shore towards the great cen- 
tral plateau of Mexico to an altitude of about 
3000 feet, together with its rich soil and plenti- 
ful supplies of water, adapt it for every kind of 
tropical and semi-tropical produce. Rice, sugar- 
cane, indigo, maize, and cotton are cultivated in 
splendid quality, not to mention the great quanti- 
ties of fruits and vegetables. The coffee indigenous 
to Colima is noted throughout Mexico for its 
excellence, and I am assured on good authority that 
it rivals the best Mocha. 

Owing to a deplorable absence of enterprise and 
energy among its inhabitants, the state still remains 
in a most primitive, and, as far as the rural parts 
are affected, most uncivilised condition. This 
indolent indifference is due, in great measure, to 
the existing insecurity created by the never- 
ending pronunciamientos, the chronic disease of 
Old Spain, and of all nations impregnated with her 
blood. Pronunciamientos imply guerrilla bands, 



62 A PEEP A 2 MEXICO. 



which, under the plea of fighting for one party or 
the other, infest the roads, and appropriate what- 
ever they can purloin ; and even when the 
revolutions are quelled, the nature of the coun- 
try encourages not a few guerrilleros to persevere 
in their misdeeds with impunity. The uncer- 
tainty both of life and property hitherto has, as 
might be anticipated, rendered any real progress 
impossible, and it is not surprising that, under 
the circumstances, no proprietor is forthcoming 
to cultivate the ground on a large scale, and 
derive those benefits from the land and climate 
which their peculiarities undoubtedly warrant. If 
the country were once intersected by good roads, 
the evil would in a great measure be alleviated, 
since the authorities (such as they are) could be 
enabled to maintain a stricter supervision on the 
one hand, and, on the other, the transport of 
produce and wares would be rendered less expen- 
sive and difficult ; but good or even tolerable 
highways are perfectly unknown, not only in the 
State of Colima, but in Mexico generally ; and the 
construction of railways, although repeatedly pro- 
posed and agitated, is for various reasons a matter 



COLIMA. 63 



reserved for the future. It thus happens that the 
crops raised are hardly more than is required for 
the consumption of the state itself, and in some de- 
gree for that of its neighbours. As for exportation, 
it is limited almost entirely to produce requiring 
no cultivation, and what is grown in the vicinity 
of the coast, such as fine woods and cocoa-nut-oil. 
Other products — such as sugar, cotton, and indigo — 
on account of the small quantities shipped, scarcely 
deserve as yet the name of exports. 

If ever the present evils, the offshoots of defi- 
cient communication, brigandage, and mal-adminis- 
tration, be removed, it would be an easy matter to 
increase the productivity of the State of Colima 
to more than ten times its present yield. 

The import trade is entirely in the hands of 
German merchants, and they supply both the 
state and its capital with all the foreign goods 
required. The latter, to the extent of two -thirds 
of the entire importation, are manufactured in 
England. 

Owing to the absence for the last year or so of 
any serious revolution, this part of the country is 
at present considered fairly safe, but its internal 



64 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

condition has as } 7 et derived no benefit from the 
temporary tranquillity. The inhabitants are so 
used to pronunciamientos and civil strife, that a 
year's quiet simply leads them to apprehend a 
new outbreak the sooner, and it will require a 
prolonged period of peace before the public mind 
can be thoroughly reassured. This will appear the 
more comprehensible when it is known that success 
as a leader of guerrilleros, a term which is here 
always synonymous with brigands, is, as a rule, 
rewarded by elevation to office of high rank, either 
civil or military ; and many a general or judge could, 
in company with the present Governor of the State 
of Colima, recall a not distant period replete with 
reminiscences of a wild and lawless life. 



CHAPTER IV. 

COLIMA TO SAYULA. 

Preparations for departure — Cheerful intelligence — Start from Colima— 
Ranchos and their crops — Smallpox — Barrancas — Barranca de 
Tonila — Tonila — Abundance of food — The standard menu — The 
Volcan de Colima — The Pico Helado — Pedregales — Enter the 
State of Jalisco — Hacienda San Marcos — A fine view — Barranca de 
Beltran — Luxuriant plants and magnificent birds — Midas de cargo 
— Barranca de Vueltas — The pueblo of the hacienda labourers — 
Hacienda del Platanar — Strange scene — The escort — A dangerous 
forest — Evil and remedy united — Indulgent authorities — Barranca 
de Atenquique — A country restaurant — Novates — Maguey — Its uses 
— Pulque — Mezcal and Teauile — Arrival at Zapotlan — Its inhabit- 
ants — Corrupt priests— The hotel — The plaza — Fighting-cocks — 
A comfortable priest — Situation of Zapotlan — Its climate — Its 
manufactures and products — Mineral wealth — Departure from 
Zapotlan — A brigand punished — Graves "by the roadside — Brigands 
and brigandage — The summit of the pass — A magnificent view- 
Arrival at Sayula. 

Whilst a journey of less than a hundred miles in 
Europe or the United States requires nothing more 
than a portmanteau, a railway ticket, and a few 
hours' travel, such an undertaking in Mexico is 
connected with precautions much more formidable, 
and the time employed in reaching your destination 
is counted by days instead of hours. For two days 

E 



66 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

previous to the departure of my two travelling com- 
panions and myself from Colima, the preparations for 
the journey, the state of the roads, what escorts we 
should require, and a number of minor details con- 
nected with mozos, saddles, and pack-mules, mono- 
polised all our attention, and engrossed our con- 
versation. The evening before we left, after having 
selected from numerous saddle-mules those that 
were suitable, and the final instructions being given, 
our arrangements were somewhat upset by a com- 
munication received from the German Consul (on 
account of the temporary absence of the United 
States Consul, the only foreign representative in the 
place) to the effect that great caution was necessary 
on our second day's march, owing to the presence 
of a band of thirty brigands in that part of the 
route. The letter closed with the cheering news 
that this band had in the last few days despatched 
several travellers into the " better land beyond," as 
the Consul expressed himself. As I had no wish to 
make the acquaintance of that " better land," at 
least until I had completed my travels through 
that worse land Mexico, and as my travelling 
companions shared that opinion, messages were 






CO LI MA TO SAYULA. 67 

at once despatched requesting a strong escort to be 
sent from Zapotlan to meet us. 

At length, at seven o'clock in the morning of Satur- 
day, December 20th, after having lost two cool hours 
of daylight through every species of delay, we bid 
farewell to the hospitable house of the Messrs A. 0. 
& Co., accompanied for two miles by two kind friends, 
who had been unceasing in their attentions during 
our stay in their city. Our small caravan consisted, 
besides ourselves, of six mounted mozos (partly 
armed with revolvers, partly with machetas) and four 
pack-mules — an inclusive total of nine men and 
thirteen animals. The choice of our friends assured 
us of the trustworthiness of the men, an^. inspired us 
with some confidence 

As soon as we had ridden through the straight 
narrow streets of the city, we emerged into a wide 
road hedged off on both sides by low stone walls 
from the adjoining ranchos. Even from its remnant 
it is evident that this road must once have been 
well constructed, but, like every other public work 
in the country, it has since its completion, years 
and years ago, been left much worn and never 
repaired ; it may be thus easily imagined what con- 



68 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

stant use and heavy rains have now spared of the 
original smooth surface and partial stone paving. 
As we proceeded northward the country gradually 
and gently ascended, and before we had advanced 
many miles, we missed the familiar cocoa-palms — 
unable as they are to flourish at this increased 
elevation — not to meet with them again until the 
shores of the Gulf were reached ; but the hardier 
bananas still followed us in our wanderings through 
village and plantation. Through the low walls, 
constructed of large stones, boulders, and pieces of 
lava, with which the neighbourhood abounds, we 
caught glimpses of rich rice-fields as well as acres 
of maize, sugar-cane, cotton, and tobacco ; but 
only a small proportion of the enclosed land was 
cultivated, and large tracts of ground, covered with 
rank vegetation, separated the comparatively small 
plots under cultivation. 

We now and then swerved from the road to avoid 
a bend ; our way then led over tolerably even paths, 
through wild country overgrown with trees, shrubs, 
creepers, and cacti, inhabited by hundreds of pretty 
birds, and apparently unchanged by the touch of 
man. 



CO LIMA TO SAYULA. G9 

I had heard at Colima that smallpox was alarm- 
ingly prevalent among the Indian population in 
the suburbs and vicinity of the city. As we passed 
their hamlets at a distance of from eight to ten 
miles away from the town, evidences of the dis- 
ease were perceptible before many a hut along the 
road, where dead children were laid out in rough 
coffins decked with poor and scanty drapery, while 
their sorrowing relations were huddled round crucifix 
and lighted candle. About twelve miles out of 
Colima the road crosses numerous streamlets and 
valleys, which increased in size and depth as we 
proceeded and approached the hills. About six 
miles before Tonila (our first halting-place, and 
eighteen miles distant from Colima) we came to 
the Barranca del Arenal, the first of many pre- 
cipitous ravines to be traversed by us in the next 
fifty miles of our journey. Barranca is the 
name given in Mexico to all deep valleys, ravines, 
or gulches with steep sides, or as people in the 
United States would say, to all "canons" of any 
importance. The word is intended more especially 
to denominate chasms formed by the action, during 
ages, of a strong flow of water on soft and gravelly 



70 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

soil. Where the ground is fertile, and water abun- 
dant, the multifarious foliage spread over the steeps 
of the barrancas, and along the margin of the stream, 
is most luxuriant ; whilst in higher altitudes, where 
the nature of the soil is unfavourable to vegetation, 
and the country sterile, barrancas with bare, sandy 
sides are not uncommon. Before reaching the 
Barranca de Tonila, on the edge of which is the 
picturesque little town of the same name, we passed 
over not a few small gulches, the babbling brooks of 
which threaded through beautiful and bushy thickets, 
and gushed in miniature cascades, when some chance 
rock in their course endeavoured, though in vain, to 
check the flow of their restless, limpid waters. This 
barranca region is one of surpassing loveliness, and 
although lacking grandeur of formation, it is rich in 
every attribute required to render a landscape fas- 
cinating : hill and dale, gaunt rock and rugged 
watercourse, and all the reciprocal charms of torrent, 
leafage, and mountain in the back ground, under the 
transparent splendours of a tropical sky. 

We arrived at Tonila shortly after noon, and 
were quickly served with a meal of many courses. 
Even in the smallest Mexican village, and where 



CO LIMA TO SAYULA. 71 

the fonda is sometimes nothing but a native hut, 
good food is to be found in abundance; and 
those who do not object to a copious use of 
garlic, and an application at times of slightly 
rancid oil instead of butter, will do remarkably 
well, in spite of a somewhat stereotyped bill of fare. 
They will be able to enjoy thick rice-soup, eggs 
cooked in various ways, ragouts and stews of chicken, 
mutton, veal, and pork, as well as round slices of 
beef resembling an Albert biscuit in size, and a 
wafer in consistency, served almost raw, and intended 
for beef-steak. 

As we still had a long journey before us, we did 
not stop any longer in the tumble -down fonda than 
was absolutely necessary, and at two o'clock the little 
caravan was again on the move. 

From Colima to Tonila our route lay almost 
due north, only bearing a little to the eastward 
to avoid collision with the grand Volcan de Colima, 
at whose foot, at a distance of barely ten miles, 
Tonila is situate. The majestic mountain crest, with 
its veil of thin, white, misty smoke, had fronted 
us all through the day — a magnificent background 
to all the exquisite landscapes that were succeed- 



72 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

ing each other like dissolving views. The vapour 
arises from a small crater, not at the top, 
but about half-way up the eastern side of the 
mountain. This crater was formed about five years 
ago, when a violent eruption of short duration 
completely caked the neighbouring land with lava 
and scoriae, but it now continues in the quietest 
manner to limit its influence to its own immediate 
vicinity. About five miles due north of the Volcan de 
Colima another grand peak rears its giant head to- 
wards the sky ; this is an extinct volcano, and named 
Pico Helado, or Frozen Peak, from the fact that more 
snow is to be found on its summit than on that of 
the Pico de Fuego (as the active volcano is often 
called), owing to the absence of subterranean heat. 
The height of these mountains is about 11,000 feet 
above the level of the sea, and about 8000 above 
the country from which they rise. 

On leaving Tonila, our route continued in a due 
northerly direction along the eastern side of these 
giants, and so near to them that we were able to 
distinguish the numerous ravines and gulches on 
their slopes. They are densely wooded, and shrubs 
and trees venture within a few hundred feet of their 



COLIMA TO SAYULA. 73 

summits. The path over which we rode was hard 
and terribly broken, being composed of lava in layers 
vomited forth in the far ages by the volcanoes, 
and the road was one hopeless mass of ruts, holes, 
and loose stones. These lava formations are fre- 
quent on Mexican roads, and travellers, arrieros, 
and diligence - drivers alike cordially abominate 
the horrible pedregcdes, as they are termed. 

"We were now in the State of Jalisco, having 
passed the boundary of the State of Colima a 
little to the southward of Tonila, and had thus 
arrived in a part of the Eepublic noted for its 
numerous bands of brigands. We gave orders that 
our party, straggling as it did over a quarter of a 
mile, should now close together, and unpacked 
the Winchester rifle and shot gun (the latter pro- 
vided with buck-shot cartridges) to be ready for 
whatever emergency might occur. 

After a ride of about five miles through country 
partially cultivated, there appeared to our left the 
stately Hacienda de San Marcos, a large and palatial 
building, charmingly situate on the slope of a 
small hill. This hacienda is one of the most 
important sugar-factories in this part of the Republic, 



74 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

and an enormous reach of country belongs to the 
estate. 

The view from this place and its neighbourhood 
is proverbial in Colima, and although it was too late 
to ride up to the hacienda,, I stopped awhile on 
the road to enjoy the remarkable panorama. The 
two volcanoes on the left, with numerous spurs 
projecting from their giant sides, gradually fading 
into the valley; a long winding range of moun- 
tains on the right, with their mantle of forests, 
and, mysteriously undulating along the central 
horizon, a broad fringe of netted vegetation hiding 
from view the chasm of the great barranca, all com- 
bined to awe us with their sublime beauty. 

Another two miles, partly along a steep path, 
partly over a wide road which skirts the sugar-cane 
plantations of San Marcos, brought us to the 
edge of the celebrated Barranca de Beltran, which 
according to popular belief is the largest in this part 
of Mexico. The most erroneous ideas seem to prevail 
concerning the actual depth of this chasm, which 
with respect to dimensions must certainly disappoint 
him who has the marvels of the Yo-semite fresh 
in his memory. "Whatever may be wanting, however, 



CO LIMA TO SAYULA. 75 

in grandeur of formation, is fully atoned for by the 
magnificence of the herbage and the variety of 
charming views which the barranca's course reveals 
with each of its many bends and curves. 

I made careful aneroid measurements of difference 
of altitude between the plateau and the bed of 
the stream at the bottom, both in descending on 
one side and ascending on the other, and ascertained 
the depth to be no more than 525 feet, whilst people 
in Colima and Zapotlan estimate it variously at 1000, 
1500, and even 2000 feet. 

The walls of the barranca are almost perpendicular, 
and the construction of the zigzag road which 
descends one side and ascends the other must have 
involved enormous labour. All the larger barrancas 
possess these roads, built more than a hundred 
years ago by the Spaniards. They are wide, and a 
great portion of the original stone paving still exists, 
as well as the solid breastwork of masonry erected 
at all dangerous parts. The zigzags are composed of 
slopes about 200 yards long, with a grade of about 
one in four. 

Our handy mules carefully and slowly com- 
menced the downward path, and our small caravan 



76 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

soon presented a not unpicturesque appearance, as 
it twinkled along the densely-overshadowed road. 
Flowers of the most variegated tints relieved the 
numerous shades of green around us ; splendid trees 
— some remarkable for the brownish -purple colour 
of their bark, some for their curious foliage, and 
others for huge thorns that studded trunk and branch 
— rose in profusion from the vast undergrowth, while 
bright, slender creepers clung affectionately to their 
sides ; magnificent parrots, gold-winged humming- 
birds, and crowds of others hardly less beautiful, 
seemed with their voice and movement to be, as it 
were, the soul of this superb body. The splendour of 
the scene was matchless when the stream at the 
bottom of the barranca was reached, and the view 
extended not only up its green and precipitous sides, 
but also along the serpentine and sandy course of the 
rivulet. 

We forded a narrow branch of the latter, after 
partaking with the mules of its delicious contents, 
and pursuing the opposite bank for a few yards, 
crossed the chief stream on an old but solid 
stone bridge. We now entered upon the zigzag 
road on the further side, and commenced the 



C0L1MA TO SAYULA. 77 

ascent. The steep incline severely taxed the powers 
of our poor animals. The riders all dismounted 
in order to walk, and with many a halt, to give 
breathing-time to the mulcts de cargo, we reached 
the plateau just before sunset. The distance in 
direct line from edge to edge of the Barranca de 
Beltran is about a third of a mile ; the length of 
the road down one side, across the valley, and up 
the other, is hardly more than a mile and a half, but 
it took us an hour and a half to surmount. 

These harrancas are great difficulties in the line 
of communication between Colima and Zapotlan, and 
render transport on wheels impossible. All goods 
must be carried by mules, of which we met hun- 
dreds and hundreds with heavy loads on their backs, 
plodding slowly along. Many a poor beast was 
groaning beneath its burden as it toiled up the steep 
roads, and not a few were seen to lie, or even fall 
down exhausted, so perfectly unable were they to 
continue the journey. 

The sun was just beginning to disappear behind 
the hills to our right when we commenced the ride 
over the two miles of tableland that separates the 
Barranca de Beltran from the wide and shallow 



78 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Barranca de Vueltas, in the valley of which is 
situated the large Hacienda del Platanar, where we 
intended to make our halt for the night. The few 
minutes of twilight quickly elapsed, and we were 
advancing in utter darkness, when we gained the 
edge of the barranca, and the path began to descend. 
Along an uneven stony way, between rocks and hills, 
and through dense vegetation, we at length saw 
the glimmer of lights before us. We were at the 
village of the plantation labourers, and had still a 
couple of miles before the hacienda building could 
be reached. 

Marvellously strange was the appearance of this 
village as we rode through it in the darkness of 
night. The little plots of ground before the huts, 
contained groups of men, women, and children, 
chattering, eating and drinking, romping and sing- 
ing, or engaged in some game that seemed to create 
the utmost hilarity among them, while the flickering 
pitch-pine on the earth shed an unearthly light over 
all. The scenes thus produced by these dark-skinned 
individuals, with their white clothing and huge hats, 
viewed in the uncertain light of their primitive illu- 
mination, are almost too weird to allow of adequate 



C0L1MA TO SAYULA. 79 

description. They appeared to be thoroughly happy, 
and so intent on their evening recreation as to take 
no notice whatever of our cavalcade. 

It was past seven o'clock when we reached the 
hacienda, and after our forty-nine miles' ride over 
the wretched roads, we were not sorry to be able 
to dismount. 

We found the interior square of the old, stone- 
built house full of bustle and animation. Two 
other travelling parties had arrived from Zapotlan 
only a short time before ourselves, and their men 
and escort were busy unpacking and unsaddling the 
mules and horses, and preparing for the night. 

The room into which we three were shown was any- 
thing but comfortable. It was flush with the ground, 
without a window, nor could the door be made to 
close. On the stony floor we found the most primeval 
bedsteads of rough boards, unprovided with anything 
wherewith to soften the hard wood ; other furniture 
there was none. We were so tired, however, that 
after partaking of supper served in the yard, and 
stumbling over the bodies of rnozos and soldiers who 
were lying asleep in all directions, we wrapped 
ourselves in our blankets, and regardless of the 



80 A PEEP AT ME X J CO. 

music, both instrumental and vocal, in which some of 
the men indulged, had soon forgotten bad roads, hard 
fare and harder beds. 

At four o'clock next morning our chief mozo 
knocked at the door with the announcement that 
the coffee was ready, and we were soon sitting 
down to our early breakfast in the verandah, and 
watching the animated sight before us in the yard. 
Horses and mules were being driven in from the 
adjacent corral amidst the shouts and yells of the 
attendants, whilst others busied themselves with 
kindling fires of pitch-pine, by the light of which 
mules were packed, horses saddled, and arms secured. 
There was something of martial wildness about the 
whole scene that reminded me vividly of a painting 
that I had lately seen, representing a guerrilla-band 
preparing for a night- attack. 

After the lapse of half an hour all was ready for 
the start, and the escort having formed in two lines 
outside the hacienda, w^e rode past them with the 
mozos and the mulas de cargo. 

The contingent from Colima had duly arrived ; 
they were twelve men armed with carbines and 
revolvers of various patterns, some breechloaders. 



CO LIMA TO SAYULA* 81 



Besides those, there were eight cavalry soldiers who 
had convoyed a party from Zapotlan the previous 
evening, and who now joined us on their way back. 
These men carried Remington breechloading carbines 
and Colt's revolvers. With our six mozos and ourselves, 
we thus amounted to the number of twenty-nine. 

We rode across the bottom laud of the wide 
barranca in complete darkness, but by the time we 
had climbed its northern side, daylight commenced 
to dawn. After a mile or so over the mesa the 
country began to get hilly, and we soon entered a 
pine forest, which, but for the smallness of the 
timber, seemed almost a reflection of some parts of 
the Sierra Nevada, The growth of pines and firs 
indicated a considerable elevation, and on reference 
I found that we were nearly 4000 feet above the 
level of the sea. 

The track through this wood is fearfully rough, 
and the nature of the country most favourable to 
robbers, who can easily avail themselves of the 
numerous breaks in the ground, clumps of trees, and 
hillocks, to rush upon the traveller so suddenly that 
resistance would be an absurdity. This locality is 
at all times most insecure, and it was against it 

F 



82 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

in particular that the German Consul at Colima 
had warned us. Our escort here separated into three 
divisions — one formed a vanguard, the second re- 
mained with us and the pack-mules, whilst the third 
protected our rear. 

This, our mounted escolta, proved, on a nearer 
examination, to be the most ruffianly half-castes I 
had yet seen ; and their appearance corresponded 
so closely with the picture of a band of brigands, 
as description had painted it in my imagination, 
that the truth of my information in Colima concern- 
ing them required no further confirmation. These 
armed mozos serve as escort, if hired for the pur- 
pose, and as long as you pay them are tolerably 
honest ; but should you venture to travel unprotected, 
these versatile gentlemen will resume the brigand 
part of their business, attack, and rob you. They 
are determined to live on the traveller one way or 
the other, and alike constitute the evil and supply 
the remedy. There exists in the State of Jalisco, 
and in many other states, an important class of 
these people, who, ever ready to favour disturbance, 
welcome heartily any revolution, when they side 
with the faction which pays them best. 



COLIMA TO SAYULA. 83 

The state authorities, who have often to thank 
this clique for their advent to power, do not throw 
many obstacles into the way of their predatory 
proceedings ; and even if murder be committed, the 
perpetrators are rarely brought to justice. The 
population has become so hardened to news of robbery 
and murder, and so disused to the thought of punish- 
ment for crime, that they have grown perfectly 
callous. It is usual for Mexicans in the State of 
Jalisco, after hearing some sad story of murder on 
the road, to simply shrug their shoulders, and with 
the expression, " Pobrecito, que desgracia ! " * at once 
dismiss the whole story. On expressing your 
indignation, you will hear them say, " What good 
can be done by talking? the authorities won't 
bother themselves about it, why should we ? " 

Soon after the forest had been left behind, we 
came to the edge of the large Barranca de Atenqui- 
que, the main features of which closely resemble those 
of the Barranca de Beltran. Atenquique is deeper 
than Beltran by at least a hundred feet, but as the 
former is about double as wide, its depth is less 
apparent ; the rich vegetation, enchanting scenery, 

* " Poor fellow, what a mishap ! " 



84 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 



and dense population of splendid birds, are however 
the same. 

Arrived on the northern mesa of the barranca, a 
ride of a few miles brought us within sight of a small 
Indian village, consisting of about half-a-dozen low 
huts, and being told that one of them was a " restaur- 
ant/' we dismounted before a wretched structure, con- 
sisting of a square of adobe walls about eighteen inches 
high, on which rested fragile walls of matting supported 
by sticks, and overlapped by a roof of rice-straw. 
We had to stoop low to enter, and soon found our- 
selves seated round a rough table on rougher stools ; 
but the meal that was brought in almost immediately 
was surprisingly good, considering the " coffee-room " 
in which it was served. We had what Americans 
call "scrambled eggs," fried pieces of langaneia 
(a very long, thin sausage of smoked pork, 
highly seasoned with garlic), frijoles, and tortillas, 
besides some excellent chocolate, which, I believe, 
is better in this part of Mexico than anywhere else 
in the world. Through the open door which afforded 
a peep into an adjacent hut, a girl was seen 
kneeling on the ground preparing tortillas, whilst 
another was busied in taking them out of the primi- 



CO LIMA TO SAYULA. 85 

tive oven and bringing them to our table, keep- 
ing us well provided with a constant supply of hot 
ones, and removing those that had become cold, as 
is usual at native repasts. 

Continuing our journey for several miles, the road 
led over another pedregal formed of huge layers ■ / 
of ancient lava. The volcanic composition of this 
part of the country is very apparent, though it is 
difficult to understand the cause of its presence, 
the distance from the Volcan de Colima being too 
considerable to allow of the supposition that an 
eruption from that source could have been the 
origin. 

About three miles before reaching Zapotlan we 
entered a wide road, entirely out of repair, and 
harrowed by the last rains into ruts, pools, and 
microscopic barrancas. The adjacent fields under 
cultivation were carefully fenced off from the road by 
rows of the nopal or prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia 
vulgaris and 0. tuna), and we noticed ditches nearer 
the town. 

The fields are extensively planted with the maguey 
or meil (Agave Mexicana), a large species of the 
American aloe or century plant of the United States, 



86 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

of which I never lost sight as long as I remained 
in the tierra templada. 

The different uses of the maguey in Mexico are 
manifold. About five years after it has been planted, 
a long shoot that springs from its centre rises to a 
height of ten to fifteen feet and carries the blossom. 
This is cut off at about a foot from the ground, and 
the sap that oozes from it is collected and al- 
lowed slightly to ferment. This liquid is the 
native Mexican beer, and among Indians and mestizos 
greatly appreciated. It has the colour and consistency 
of milk-and-water, and smells and tastes like yeast. 
Zapotlan is famous for its pulque, as this beverage 
is called ; and before our entrance into the town 
we passed many a hut and low fonda where pigskins 
were suspended full of the liquor, and hollowed 
gourds arranged on shelves as its receptacles. 

Mezcal and tequile, two kinds of spirits, are like- 
wise manufactured from the maguey. They are 
exceedingly strong, and the latter (tequile) much 
renowned for its purity. # Besides this, the fibre 

* There are various kinds of maguey, and besides those mentioned 
above, three other sorts of spirituous liquors, called respectively sotal, 
tusca quesca, and piims, are distilled from other genera of the 
plant. 



COLIMA TO SAYULA. 87 

of its thick leaves is utilised for strong rope, 
excellent matting, and horse-girths. 

At eleven o'clock a.m., after a ride of seventeen 
miles, we reached Zapotlan, and our long caravan 
entered the monotonous, straight streets, lined with 
the customary low and solid houses, amidst an 
assemblage of the natives, who from their doors 
curiously surveyed our entry, 

The inhabitants of Zapotlan do not enjoy the best 
of reputations. They are said to be more or less 
connected with brigandage ; and whenever a revolu- 
tion gives them the opportunity, the male population 
turn out on the roads in great numbers, to lighten 
travellers of money, luggage, and clothing. Even in 
quiet times like the present the vicinity of Zapotlan 
is considered most dangerous. 

The priests retain a powerful hold on these people, 
and if their influence were properly employed, much 
might be done to better them. But I have heard 
of ecclesiastics themselves as the chieftains of 
robber-bands ; and even the best of their order are 
only too ready to ignore the evil, so long as the 
people attend confession, burn candles before multi- 
tudinous shrines, and last, but not least, pay the 






88 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

money demanded for absolution and the like. In 
this manner even murder is condoned by the clergy. 
No wonder that the poor Indians and low mestizos 
remain in the most degraded condition of moral 
and mental darkness. Eiding through the wretched 
streets of the outskirts, tenanted by these tribes, I 
noticed small placards of pink paper fastened to the 
wall or door of almost every house, and on exami- 
nation found them to contain some printed lines in- 
voking the protection and blessing of some saint or 
other on the dwelling and inhabitants in question ! 

We soon reached the fonda on the large plaza, a 
house most uncomfortable in all its arrangements. A 
room was apportioned to us, blest with little but two 
antediluvian bedsteads, and destitute alike of light 
and window. It was closed by massive folding - 
doors, and fastened by means of a lock a foot 
square, with a gigantic key weighing several pounds. 

This inviting chamber opened on the filthy and 
fragrant yard. As it is considered unsafe to entrust 
the key of a room to a stranger when its occupant is 
absent, it may be imagined what a struggle there was 
between us as to the individual on whom the charge 
of that ponderous instrument was to devolve. 



COL/MA TO SAYULA. 80 

The rest of the day was spent in exploring the 
town, which is one of the oldest in Mexico. The 
plaza is much larger and brighter than that of 
Colima. The same stone or adobe benches are 
ranged all round, and trees render the walks plea- 
sant to sight and sense. The streets are wider than 
at Colima, but the pavement is inferior, and the low 
one -storied houses have an older and meaner air. 
In fine, there is not so much "style" about 
Zapotlan as Colima, and the inhabitants appear less 
favoured by fortune. 

While strolling through the streets we perceived 
a number of houses in which fighting -cocks were 
exposed for sale. Small square stalls were disposed 
round the walls of the rooms, in which the warriors 
were displayed. Cock-fighting is a favourite sport 
with the Zapotlanians, and enjoys with them a greater 
popularity than bull -fighting, as it offers a greater 
scope for betting. 

Near the plaza are the ruins of what has once 
been a fine cathedral, destroyed, I believe, about 
sixty years ago, by an earthquake, and to this 
hour as uncared for as if the catastrophe had 
happened yesterday. 



90 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Although this town can boast churches sufficient 
to accommodate a population ten times as numer- 
ous, a new cathedral has been commenced near 
the remains of the old one ; but the structure has not 
advanced much above the foundations, although 
years have elapsed since they were laid. The day 
we spent in Zapotlan happened to be Sunday, 
and we were much amused by a fat and ancient 
priest, who, himself comfortably seated in a light 
waggon with some friends, directed with the most 
pious energy the poor of his congregation, who were 
now pouring out of church, to proceed to a quarry 
some three miles off, there to collect stones and 
carry them to the site of the cathedral, in order 
to assist in the work of building. A great number, 
principally of the fairer sex, followed his bidding, and 
were seen late in the evening returning with heavy 
loads of stone and sand on their heads, whilst their 
bloated " medicine -man " was calmly driving his 
mules. 

Zapotlan (which on maps and official documents 
is often called Ciudad Guzman) contains a popula- 
tion of about 20,000, and is situate in a most 
fertile country, at an elevation of 4300 feet above 



CO LI MA TO SAYULA. 91 

the level of the sea, in north latitude 19° 41'. Its 
climate has the reputation of being all but perfect. 
Possessed of all the advantages of the tropics, whilst 
exempt from excessive heat, and in the permanent 
enjoyment of a moderately warm summer, Zapotlan 
is one of the most delightful localities in the tierra 
templada, or temperate zone of the Mexican 
plateau. Of course the mid -day sun aims his 
rays with tolerable vigour, but the mornings and 
evenings are charming, and the atmosphere deli- 
ciously clear, pure, and light. I am assured that 
the town is most healthy, and that epidemics are 
wholly unknown. 

Zapotlan is noted for its soap -factories, and pro- 
vides all the neighbouring states with this commodity. 
Besides this, it produces a large supply of pulque, 
a fair quantity of rnezcal, while the haciendas in the 
vicinity manufacture sugar, molasses, and a kind of 
rum called aquardiente de cana. The country 
around the town will bear almost every- 
thing except plants which require tropical heat, 
but is only partially tilled. The same causes 
as elsewhere in Mexico — insecurity of life and 
property, as well as lack- of means for transport and 



92 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

communication — have hitherto prevented the de- 
velopment of its natural advantages. The hills 
and mountains surrounding the town are reported 
to be rich in minerals of various kinds. During my 
stay I was shown specimens of stone brought from 
the immediate vicinity, apparently containing a large 
percentage of cinnabar, and of this ore I was told 
that enormous quantities exist. At present consider- 
able cargoes of quicksilver, extensively used in the 
" beneficiating haciendas" of the silver-mining dis- 
tricts, are imported at large cost from abroad, 
whereas if sufficient enterprise were forthcoming, 
there is little doubt that a large supply could be 
obtained here at a much smaller outlay. 

At seven o'clock next morning we departed from 
Zapotlan* on our way to Sayula, eighteen miles to the 
northward. The road being considered safer than 
that traversed the previous day, we reduced our escort 
to six men, which were engaged for us by a mer- 
chant of Zapotlan. With our six mozos we accord- 
ingly numbered fifteen in all. Immediately after 
leaving the town the road leads through a broad 
valley and along the marshy shore of a small lake. 
This spot simply swarmed with birds. The 



CO LIMA TO SAYULA. 93 

water was hidden by duck and teal, whilst 
large cranes, herons, and other waders were strut- 
ting and lounging on the banks. In the trees and 
bushes small cardinales entirely red, tiny glitter- 
ing humming-birds, and many others were flying 
from branch to branch, whilst the mute-like 
zojrilotes, quietly perched in a commanding posi- 
tion, were calmly expecting some morsel which 
might gratify their not over-fastidious palates. 

About three miles out of Zapotlan the road 
passes over a pedregal of the worst description, 
where attacks from brigands are said to be very 
frequent, especially on the diligences which pass 
here regularly. The nature of the ground ne- 
cessitates a funereal jog, and effectually debars 
escape. 

About a fortnight before we passed, the coach 
which left Zapotlan at two o'clock a.m., and had 
consequently arrived at this spot in utter darkness, 
was assailed by a band of ten men. In accordance 
with their tactics, one of them jumped from 
his ambush before the door of the diligence to 
open it, and with cocked revolver force the 
travellers to descend. But the passengers, three 



94 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

only in number, appeared this time to be well 
prepared, and unlike the generality of Mexican 
travellers, who prefer robbery to resistance, they 
shot the brigand dead the instant he approached 
the door. The others seeing their comrade 
fall, and the passengers ready for defence, im- 
mediately took to their heels. The dead brigand 
was tied to the top of a pole, and left there as 
a scarecrow for others. At Zapotlan we were 
promised the treat of this interesting spectacle, 
but on reaching the spot one of our men in- 
formed us that the gentleman had been released 
the previous evening and buried by his friends. 
We were thus happily spared this disgusting 
sight, and only beheld the blood-stained pole and 
the new grave by its side. 

Along all Mexican roads rude graves of this 
kind are numerous. The majority have a primi- 
tive cross erected over them, and often bear a 
rustic inscription, recording the familiar tale of 
attack by bandits and interment on the spot 
where the victim fell. The few heaps which lack 
a cross cover the remains of those brigands who 



CO LI MA TO SAYULA. 95 

themselves perished in their attempt upon the life 
and property of others. 

The flourishing trade of brigandage in Mexico 
is for the greater part sustained without combat 
or bloodshed, and it is only in exceptional cases 
that travellers use force in trying to prevent their 
despoliation. It seems to be perfectly understood 
that your life is safe if you quietly submit to 
be plundered of all that you carry. If you 
quit the coach williugly when your masked assail- 
ant asks you, and comply with the request of 
" cava en tierra" which means to lie down 
with your face towards the ground, there is no 
further inconvenience attached to the operation 
than the loss of money, portmanteau, and clothes ; 
and if it does not happen to be particularly cold, 
the journey to the next town in a semi-naked 
state, with a newspaper in lieu of your usual gar- 
ments, may not prove too thrilling an adventure. 

Those Mexicans who prefer travelling by dili- 
gence to riding on horseback, generally restrict 
their luggage to a very small handbag, take no 
valuables, and often no arms. They yield uncon- 
ditionally when attacked, and besides their clothes 



96 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

are only mulcted of the few dollars which they 
take care to carry in their pockets so as to escape 
the beatiug invariably bestowed by the brigands on 
the traveller impertinent enough to be without coin. 
At times, when objects of value are at stake, con- 
flict is preferred to concession; and I am assured 
that the majority of cases terminate in the retreat 
of the brigands, who, as a rule, are cowards, and 
ever mindful of the old Spanish proverb, " La 
pintura y la jpelea desde lejos las ojea." * 

It is evident that they do not sally forth with 
the intention of fighting, which, in the result, would 
only imperil their own precious persons, a contin- 
gency to which these gentlemen seem to entertain 
the strongest objections, and might possibly in- 
volve them in difficulties with the authorities ; their 
object is to rob, and they do all they can to attain 
that object, if only the use of arms on the part 
of their prey be rendered impossible. 

Brigandage has greatly decreased in Mexico within 
the last year. The absence of civil disturbances 
has enabled the state governments, despite the 

* A picture and a battle are best seen at a distance. 



CO LI MA TO SAYULA. 97 

• 
inefficiency of many, to supply the roads with 

escorts and police to a moderate extent; and 
although the latter very frequently make common 
cause with the robbers, yet on the whole the mea- 
sures taken appear to have caused some amendment. 
Wherever I went, however, tales were plentiful about 
the events of only a month, a week, or a few 
days ago, and on arriving after the day's journey, 
the first question put to us invariably was, " Did 
you meet with any novedad ? " — novedad (novelty 
or news) being in this case the periphrastic and 
vulgar term for brigandage. 

After leaving the small lake, the road begins 
to ascend, and for some miles leads over succes- 
sive hills, continually increasing in height until 
the summit of the pass over this spur of the 
Sierra Madre range is attained. The country here 
is wild and uninviting, the narrow road winding 
its way through undergrowth composed of cacti 
and a variety of shrubs, overtopped at times by 
a deformed and sickly tree. The path seems 
until quite recently to have been much nar- 
rower, for the shrubs and cacti felled to effect the 
clearing are still cumbering the ground. This im- 

G 



98 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

provement was carried out mainly to render the 
road less liable to surprises. Arrived at the highest 
point of the pass, at an elevation of about 5500 
feet above the level of the sea, a magnificent view 
was revealed to us. Before us, and stretching from 
the foot of the mountain on which we stood, Lay 
an extensive plain, bordered miles away to the 
northward by another range of emerald hills, and 
dotted with villages and haciendas. On the margin 
of a lake we descried the town of Sayula with 
numerous steeples and towers, covering a large ex- 
panse of ground. The land appeared carefully tilled, 
and an air of thriftiness and wealth seemed to belong 
to this locality such as I had not before observed 
in Mexico. The fields were waving with corn of 
various kinds (and this in the month of December), 
whilst acre upon acre was sprinkled with rows of 
graceful magueys, interspersed at short intervals by 
trees of numerous descriptions. 

The remarkable clearness of the atmosphere, as 
well as our commanding position, caused us to 
believe that the end of the day's journey was very 
near, but to descend the heights and to traverse 
the plain proved a ride of many miles ; and when 



COL] MA TO SA YULA. 99 

we reached the end of the wide road lined with 
nopales, and separated by a broad ditch from the 
adjacent fields, which leads into Sa)^ula, one of the 
ancient church bells was just proclaiming the hour 
of noon. 



CHAPTER V. 

SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. 

A family likeness — Sayula— Its climate — An extensive vista — An 
attempt at swindling — First experience of a diligencia — Departure 
from Sayula — Closely packed— Cavalry escort — Lago de Sayula — 
La Cofradia — Carbonate of soda or tequesquite — A cotton -tree — 
Cebollas — Mexican diligencias — Cocheros and their assistants — 
Laguna de Zacoalco — A horrible road — Mismanagement of public 
works — Pozos — An extensive plateau — Santa Ana Acatlan — 
Santa Cruz and Christmas processions — The valley of Guadalajara 
— Mexican waggons and carts — Travelling I actios — A small but 
dangerous barranca — An agreeable change — Arrival at Guadalajara 
— Comfortable quarters. 

There is such a sameness about small Mexican 
towns, that the stranger at first sight can hardly 
discern any difference between them. Sayula in 
its general features is so much like Zapotlan, that 
I almost thought we had been led in a circle, and 
returned to our starting-point. There were the 
same streets, the same badly -paved roadways, and 
the same low adobe, whitewashed houses. The 
similarity extended to the inn accommodation ; our 
room, although larger than the one we occupied 
at Zapotlan, was furnished in the same primitive 



SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. 101 

manner, and the meals were composed of the same 
dishes. 

Sayula is as old a town as Zapotlan, and Spaniards 
settled there immediately after the Conquest. It 
has a population of about 10,000, mostly engaged in 
agriculture, preparing pulque, and the manufacture 
of salt. 

Its climate is very salubrious, being situated in 
about the same elevation as Zapotlan (4400 feet 
above sea-level). It is not visited by any epide- 
mics, and without the annoyance of excessive heat 
basks in a perpetual summer. 

A merchant of Sayula, to whom we brought letters, 
conducted us after dinner to the top of a hill outside 
the town, from which we enjoyed a splendid view 
of the neighbourhood. 

From our position, the town and surrounding 
country was spread out before us as on a map. There 
were the straight streets, the flat-roofed houses with 
thickets of green in the patios, the never-missing paseo 
lined with shady trees, the cosy alameda, and the 
eternal plaza with a church as one of its sides. 
In front, at the foot of the eminence on which we 
were, an ancient cathedral was shown, said to have 



102 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

been erected by Cortez himself (all ancient churches 
in this country enjoy this reputation), and its pecu- 
liar old-Spanish architecture, its pillars, fretwork, 
and images, together with the mysterious arcades 
which communicate with the stately palace of the 
bishop, were certainly most quaint and remarkable. 
To our left stretched the waters of the Lago de 
Sayula, with numerous houses nestling near its 
shores, and hundreds of birds skimming its mir- 
ror-like surface. To our right were the verdant 
fields of the fertile plain, bordered at no great 
distance by the wooded mountains with which our 
morning's ride had acquainted us. 

The scene breathed so much of peace and calm 
that the mere mention of war and revolution seemed 
a profanity in connection with it ; and we gazed at 
it from a rocky seat till the sun had disappeared 
behind the domes and tower of the town, when we 
returned in darkness. 

As we had arranged to complete our journey to 
Guadalajara in the diligence, we here paid our men 
and discharged the animals. After the principal of 
the escort had received the money for all his subor- 
dinates, some altercation ensued between them, and 




en 



SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. 103 

two of the men repeatedly appealed to us, asseverat- 
ing that they had been cheated out of their portion, 
whilst their villainous chief insisted that we had paid 
him too little. Seeing, however, that we remained 
impervious to all their demands, they mounted their 
horses and galloped away about an hour after our 
arrival, as they proposed a return to Zapotlan the same 
day. Late in the evening, a telegraphic message* ar- 
rived from our friends in Zapotlan, inquiring whether 
the escort's story of our refusal to pay them was true, 
as they had that instant arrived declaring they had 
not received a cent. They had evidently forgotten 
the power of the — here rarely used — electric wire, 
which speedily frustrated their designs. 

We were unpleasantly surprised to find that the 
coach, instead of starting at six a.m. as we had been 
led to believe, was to arrive at half -past three A.M. 
from Zapotlan, and leave immediately afterwards. 
According to regulation our luggage had to be 
taken to the diligence office the previous evening, 
where we were charged outrageous sums for the 

* A single telegraphic wire, supported by rough poles, has for 
some years connected the principal towns of the Republic. When not 
interrupted by pronunciados it works fairly well, but is chiefly used for 
Government purposes. 



104 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

extra weight, only an arroba (twenty-five pounds) 
being allowed free. 

At half-past three next morning, we were waiting 
in the draughty yard of the despachio de las 
diligencias for the coach, which soon made its 
appearance. There is something unearthly in the 
thought of experiencing a Mexican stage-coach for 
the first time in the utter darkness of night, 
and being obliged to step into the close and repul- 
sive conveyance, without a chance of reconnoiter- 
ing the interior or the compagnons de route. 

We delayed entering, whilst the mules were un- 
harnessed, and the eight fresh ones got ready; 
but after this and the packing had been completed, 
by the blaze of the pitch-pine burning on the 
ground, the decided vamos of the cochero urged 
us to push our way into the vehicle and find our 
places as best we could. 

We were hardly seated when the driver cracked his 
whip, as if he were firing pistols, and with shouts 
of Vamanos mulcts cthah ha-a-a-h! we rumbled 
at a sharp pace over the awful pavement of the 
good old town of Sayula. The moon was in- 
visible, and a large torch, held over the side by the 



SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. 105 

driver's assistant, was the only light by which the 
cochero could steer, but both he and the mules 
were evidently initiated into the secrets of the 
road. 

"When my eyes had become accustomed to the 
darkness, I found the diligence closely packed, for 
besides ourselves there were six other passengers, 
and thus all nine seats were occupied. This, on the 
whole, is rather an advantage in this country ; like 
an addition of sawdust or straw in a packing-case, 
it prevents the contents of the coach from the 
painful friction with another, which would occur, 
through the horrible incongruities of the roads, 
were there ampler room for movement. 

After a couple of miles, we left the wide 
cactus-lined road leading out of Sayula behind us, 
and entered a narrower way bordered on both 
sides by trees and bushes. Here we were joined 
by three fearfully shabby cavalry soldiers, whose 
duty it was to escort us. They may be very useful 
to frighten intending robbers by their presence, as 
indeed a scarecrow generally is in the case of 
intruding birds ; but in event of attack, I presume, 
they would have modelled their conduct on that 



106 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

of the same scarecrows, when the seeds are filched 
in spite of them. 

Like their comrades at Coliina, and those that 
had formed part of our escort from Platanar to 
Zapotlan, they were the most disorderly sol- 
diers possible. Their filthy canvas uniforms were 
in this instance hidden by a sarape wrapped 
round their shoulders and half their faces ; their 
machetas were fastened to the saddles, and passed 
under the leg of the rider and the girths, whilst 
their carabines were secured lengthways alongr the 
body of the horse. 

They kept up with the coach for some time, and 
were then suddenly lost to view. 

We soon reached the margin of the Lago de 
Sayula, the shores of which we followed for a con- 
siderable distance. 

After a rough drive of fourteen miles, we reached 
the first halting-place for change of mules, a miser- 
able village called La Cofradia, where we arrived at 
about six o'clock, when the first rays of the rising 
sun peered over the mountains. The wretched houses 
built of undisguised adobe, and a few thatched 
huts, were all discernible, and the tout ensemble was 



SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. 107 

so repulsive that we did not feel inclined to leave 
the coach. 

Starting again, we continued along the banks of 
the lake, over ground thickly crusted with a white 
alkaline salt (carbonate of soda) which is deposited 
by the lake when subsiding after the rainy season. 
This substance, which Mexicans call tequesqiiite, is a 
source of wealth to the population of this district, 
although its presence deprives the country of agri- 
cultural fertility. From the Lago de Sayula north- 
ward, the land is much inferior for producing 
purposes to that between the coast and Zapotlan, 
with the exception of that part of the plain of Sayula 
which lies between the hills to the south and the lake. 
The tequesquite is transported to all parts of the 
Eepublic, and especially to Zapotlan, for the manu- 
facture of soap. 

On the waters of the lago we observed the same 
variety of " rarce aves" noticeable before in similar 
localities. 

At this time we were travelling on a wide 
road, bordered on the right by the lake, and on the 
left fenced off from the ranchos by the usual stone 
walls. The fields on the undulating ground compos- 



108 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

ing these ranchos were partially cultivated, whilst 
on the portions left fallow two or three kinds of 
trees, as well as an assortment of cacti, were worthy 
of remark. Amongst the trees, one carrying pods 
filled with a substance closely resembling cotton, 

was most conspicuous. Mr L , who is a cotton 

manufacturer at Guadalajara, has repeatedly tried 
to use this tree-cotton as a substitute for the or- 
dinary material, but all his experiments have been 
futile owing to the shortness of staple in the tree 
produce, and its want of strength. 

Towards nine o'clock the second stage was reached 
at a wretched village called Cebollas, where, how- 
ever, we were pleased to find breakfast in readiness 
for us. The fonda looked miserable enough; its 
cracked tumble-down walls, and general squalor, 
did not certainly excite an undue expectation 
within us, but we found the table neatly laid, and 
the meal plentiful, well cooked, and remarkably 
cheap. After three-quarters of an hour's stoppage, 
eight fresh mules were harnessed to the coach, and 
the usual " vamos senores " of the cocker o was the 
signal of departure. 

The diligencias in use in Mexico are the Concord 



SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. 109 

coaches of the United States, and considering the 
labour they have to perform, are undoubtedly 
the best that can be found for the purpose. They 
are run by a company styling themselves " Im- 
presa de diligencias generates" and are employed 
in carrying the mails. The coaches are in 
two different sizes, the smaller to hold nine, the 
larger twelve passengers inside. The seats are 
arranged in three rows, at right angles with the 
pole, the middle bench being provided with a 
movable back, and running from door to door. 
The carriage rests on stout leather bands, which 
are themselves suspended from strong old-fashioned 
springs, and thus the jerking and jolting occasioned 
by the execrable roads is to a great degree alle- 
viated. If it were not for this contrivance, to travel 
by diligence in Mexico would be next to impossible ; 
even with these Concord coaches it is one of the 
most awful ordeals to which any one can be sub- 
jected, and people are tossed in the stage-coach like 
dice in a cup. The diligences are drawn by eight 
mules, or small horses ; two are harnessed to the 
wheel, then four abreast, and finally two in the 
lead, and are driven by the cocheros in the most 



110 A PEEP A T MEXIC 

skilful maimer. The driver works a powerful break 
with his right leg. by placing his foot into a hook 
at the end of a lever, by his side. An assistant 
performs much of the shouting, as well as the whip- 
ping and stoning of the animals. The latter opera- 
tion is resorted to when the whip proves ineffectual ; 
stones of the size of an egg, are thrown at the 
lazy animal, and with such precision that they 
never miss their aim, and always produce the 
desired effect. This muchacho of the driver is a 
hard-worked individual ; besides the duties above 
mentioned, he must attend to the luggage, and 
when occasion requires urge on the animals 
bv running beside them, or by his own 
weight balance the coach, when, owing to the 
uneven ground, there is danger of tilting over 
on one side or the other. The poor man is always 
on the move by the side of the diligence, now 
jumping upon the right step, now changing to 
the left, then rushing forward to whip or si 
a mule, then tightening a strap or a chain, 
and finally mounting the box perfectly breathless, 
only to undergo the same torture a few minutes 
later. Both the cochero and his muchacho gener- 



SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. Ill 



ally wear chapareras made of goatskin with the 
long hair on the outside, which gives them a 
savage aspect. 

After leaving Cebollas, we soon came to the margin 
of the Laguna de Zacoaleo, which for a considerable 
time formed our view on the left ; whilst on our 
right, some distance off, and to which, on account 
of the higher ground, the waters of the lake do 
not extend, the land was fenced in and partially 
cultivated. 

We drove over another tract of alkaline deposit, 
and as we proceeded the roads grew worse and worse. 
We had frequently to abandon the coach, when- 
ever it was jammed in the mire, and find our 
way on foot as well as we could over deep pools 
of reeking mud ; and when the impetuous gallop of 
the mules happened to pull us through these quag- 
mires, we received our full share of the ooze as 
it splashed over the coach. Mexican roads baffle 
all description : it is utterly impossible to convey 
a correct idea of them, and only he who has suffered 
can know what they really are. 

A journey under these circumstances is naturally 
very slow : including stoppages for changing mules 



112 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

and taking meals, we proceeded at the rate of about 
five miles an hour. 

The importance of a good road from the Pacific to 
Guadalajara, by way of Colima, is as patent to the 
Mexican as it is to the visitor. But the sluggish 
indifference of the people, the bungling which 
distinguishes native operations, and the corruption 
that pervades the monetary administration, have 
hitherto effectually thwarted the desired end. More 
than five years since, a road was projected from 
Colima northwards, but owing to the combined causes 
of war, mismanagement, and continual want of 
funds, the work is still in its infancy. On the way 
from Colima to Tonila I observed some signs of 
the intended improvement, and at one point even 
labourers actually engaged ; though another portion, 
completed as it was, and waiting for a juncture 
with the former, was rapidly falling into decay 
from constant neglect and the summer rains. At a 
barranca near Tonila the supports for a bridge 
intended to span the stream at a small height from 
the bottom, and solidly constructed of stone, are 
all but perfected, and a number of men were busily 
employed when I passed. The supports will perhaps 



SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. 113 

be finished shortly, but according to every precedent 
in this country, it will probably take years and 
years until the bridge (apparently an iron one) is 
transported to the spot, and the structure finally 
completed. What the object can be of building the 
road piecemeal, instead of continuously, and allow- 
ing the rains of years to destroy one part before 
the others are placed in connection with it, is I 
presume a matter only comprehensible to Mexican 
minds. 

At Pozos, a village composed like the others of low 
adobe houses neither plastered nor whitewashed, 
and inhabited almost exclusively by Indians, we 
again changed mules, and striking away to the north- 
ward, left the lakes behind. Our road had hitherto 
conducted us through broad valleys surrounded by 
mountains about fifteen miles apart, and now after 
slightly ascending for some miles we found ourselves 
on a more extensive plateau. Cultivation became 
somewhat more general, and we now and then 
passed extensive hacienda buildings. Some portions 
of the road were fenced off from the estates by wide 
ditches, with an adobe or mud-wall on the further 
side, and an additional hedge of nopales, a double 

H 



114 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

and most powerful protection, prompted probably 
by fear of brigands. 

At about three o'clock we reached the town of 
Santa Ana Acatlan, famed for its population of rob- 
bers, and notorious for miserable low houses, and 
excruciatingly paved streets.* A church with lofty 
towers, added to many less stately companions, is 
sufficiently large to accommodate the inhabitants of 
half-a-dozen Santa Anas ; and it is evident that 
each of these edifices must have cost at least twice 
as much as the remainder of the town put together. 



* A few weeks after I had passed this locality in safety, a terrible 
disaster happened there to a German family of Guadalajara, whose hos- 
pitality I had the privilege of enjoying when at the latter place. Mr 

B was returning home from Colinia, accompanied by his wife, 

child, and a recently-arrived German physician. When within three 
miles of Santa Ana Acatlan the coach was stopped by eight or ten men. 

The passengers descended, and Mr B and his friend opened fire 

on the brigands, who, however, at the first shot were reinforced by from 
twenty to thirty ladrones, who had been hiding in the vicinity. In the 
ridiculously unequal fight that now ensued the doctor was immediately 

killed, whilst Mr B , unsupported by any of the other passengers, 

fought gallantly until a robber, riding up behind, split his skull with a 
macheta. Xot content with this, the fiends subjected the surviving pas- 
sengers to the most brutal treatment, before they allowed the ransacked 
diligence to proceed. The soldiers stationed on the road had been seen 
shortly before the appearance of the band, but they did not arrive at the 
spot until the fight was nearly over, and even then decamped immedi- 
ately they were fired at. It was not until several weeks afterwards that 
some of the band were said to have been caught and brought to justice, 
but the truth of this remains very doubtful. 



SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. 115 

Leaving Santa Ana Acatlan, the fearful road 
leads up a hill, from the top of which an extensive 
view is obtained of the surrounding country. In 
spite of the infamous reputation of the people, 
there were traces of a less scanty agriculture 
than in the country we had just left behind; and 
beyond the stone walls and fences we descried 
rippling fields of sugar-cane and various cereals. 

As we neared the village of Santa Cruz, we met 
several processions of Indians dressed in all the 
finery of holiday accoutrement, and bearing aloft a 
cradle of straw, surrounded with coloured paper and 
tinsel, and containing a waxen image of the Infant 
Christ, embedded in paper shavings and gold leaf. 

The crowds were headed by children with burning 
tapers, and the rear was composed of a motley 
throng that let off crackers, and shot up rockets in 
the broad daylight. This being the 23rd of Decem- 
ber, these were the preparations of the hacienda 
labourers for the celebration of Christmas at one of 
the churches in Santa Crux. 

Ever since Santa Ana Acatlan we had been 
gradually ascending a low ridge of mountains, 
and now as we passed San Augustin, the 



116 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

last stage before Guadalajara, the road led 
down from the hills, into a large plain with 
many villages, hamlets, and haciendas, and a seem- 
ingly numerous population. The nearer we ap- 
proached the capital of Jalisco, the more we observed 
its influence on the surrounding country, and the 
traffic on the road swelled palpably the further we 
proceeded. 

On account of barrancas and other difficulties, 
almost the only means of transport employed between 
the coast and Zapotlan are mules; we rarely 
met a cart or a waggon. From the latter place, 
however, towards Guadalajara and other inland 
towns, the porterage of goods is divided between 
mulas de cargo and rude heavy waggons and carts. 
In order to afford mutual protection, they always 
travel together, and we were now meeting great 
numbers, which often blocked the way and kept 
the diligence waiting until they had moved aside. 
These waggons and carts are in the shape of an 
oblong box, clumsily constructed of a framework 
of logs of wood, and mounted on large wheels, 
connected by weighty bars of rough timber for axles. 
The wheels are peculiar; they rarely form a true 



SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. 117 

circle, the felloes being formed of several pieces 
of wood rounded to an arc on one side, and fas- 
tened to a solid square block on the other, which 
latter forms the inside of the wheel, as there are 
no spokes. 

The waggons, which sometimes convey tremendous 
loads piled up to a great height, are mostly drawn 
by mules, from four to sixteen or more to the team. 

The carts, whose two wheels are of enormous size, 
are, as a rule, drawn by oxen — two, four, or more, 
yoked by the head, somewhat in the South German 
and Italian fashion. The teamsters guide them 
cleverly, but employ the cruel method of pricking 
the poor brutes with a sharp spike mounted at the 
end of a long, slender pole. 

Besides trains of pack-mules, and caravans of 
waggons, we frequently met families of Indians and 
low mestizos tramping on foot, or with one mule 
among half a dozen of them, carrying in huge 
frames of wickerwork a quantity of brown earthen- 
ware vessels, baskets, or ■ maguey matting. The 
loads borne by these people along the dusty roads 
under a hot sun were quite enormous, and we could 
not help compassionating them, whilst admiring 



118 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

such apparent industry and endurance. An occa- 
sional party of well-armed horsemen would next 
pass us, or a family-carriage jogging along slowly, 
though far from surely, surrounded by servants 
and escort. 

About fifteen miles before we reached the city, the 
road winds through the all but dry bed of a 
stream, forming a small barranca, the result of con- 
tinued action of the water on the sandy soil. During 
the few rainy months the coach has to make 
a long detour, the stream being too high to allow of 
a passage. This small barranca, with numerous 
caves and crevices in its steep walls, is a 
favourite resort of brigands, and a few soldiers are 
always stationed there. These six or eight men and 
the three cavalry soldiers that accompanied us out 
of Sayula, were the only indications I observed of 
the much-vaunted escorts that the authorities are 
said to have now distributed all over the roads. It 
was certainly only owing to our good luck, and 
not to the care taken by the Government, that we 
escaped unmolested. 

Our Mexican fellow-passengers became more and 
more anxious as we approached Guadalajara, for it 



SAYULA TO GUADALAJARA. 119 

is in the immediate vicinity of large towns that 
attacks occur most frequently, and of all the queer 
places in the Republic, the capital of Jalisco is the 
worst. 

The wide road that for the last ten miles leads 
towards the city, was torn up into numberless 
miniature barrancas by the rains ; and it required 
all the dexterity of the driver to steer the coach 
safely over the winding path. 

A league outside the town, we were met by two 

horsemen, relatives of Mr L , who had' come to 

welcome him back to Guadalajara; and a little 
further on, several carriages were drawn up con- 
taining more of his friends. I accepted the invita- 
tion to complete the journey with them, and was 
heartily glad to be able to quit the stuffy coach. 
An abundance of Winchester rifles and revolvers 
were secured in every corner of the carriages, and 
on my expressing some surprise, I was assured that 
robbery and murder in the city and its neighbour- 
hood were at present as rife as ever. The steeples 
and towers of the town gradually dawned upon our 
view, and the graceful twin-spires of the cathedral 
stood out proudly above the rest. The number 



1 20 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

of domes and lofty buildings created an impression 
far beyond my preconceived ideas. 

The fast horses of my friends soon trotted over 
the remaining couple of miles, and haviug passed 
a few tumble-down fondas and rancho buildings 
by the wayside, we entered the execrably 
paved, straight streets of the capital of Jalisco. 
Low, wretched houses form the outlying quar- 
ters of the town, and the people appeared miser- 
able and poor; but when we drove into the better 
districts, the two-storied mansions, and fine 
churches, soon convinced me that I had as 
yet seen nothing in Mexico to compare with the 
city of Guadalajara. 

At seven p.m. we halted before Mr L 's house, 

where the greatest kindness and warmest hospitality 
awaited me ; and the society of his relatives, and 
their agreeable conversation, soon made me forget 
the discomforts of my first day of diligence- 
travel in Mexico. 



CHAPTER VI. 

GUADALAJARA. 

The state of Jalisco — Situation of its capital — Its climate — Streets and 
houses — Architecture — Wretched outlying quarters — The plaza — 
The cathedral — The palacio — The portales — Unices — Native toys — 
Clay images — Cajones — Composition of the population — Cotton 
factories and paper-mill — The Salto factory — Brigands and plagia- 
ries — A pic-nic interrupted — Brave men — Insecurity of the city — 
Juan Panadero — A happy editor — Voz de Jalisco, the priest's paper 
— A violent pamphlet— Hospital de San Miguel de Belen — A mor- 
bid taste — The department for the lunatics — The schools — The 
Cimenterio de Belen — Gavetas — The burial-place of the poor — 
The Hospicio de Guadalajara — A town of charities — The cuna — 
Customs encouraging immorality — The schools — Superior em- 
broidery — Trades for youths — The church and a doll-show — 
Girl's school of San Diego — The teatro, a Roman ruin — Fine interior 
— A Mexican Italian-opera troupe — Bull fights, and the bull-arena — 
An enthusiastic audience — The paseo — The alameda — A Guadala- 
jaran Rotten Row — Walks in the portales — Evening vueltas on 
the plaza — A practical arrangement — Female seclusion — Sere- 
nades without music — A simple pulley — Middle-age habits 
retained — Strange contrasts. 

The State of Jalisco, which comprises the greater part 
of the territory which, under the Spanish regime, 
was called the kingdom of La Nueva Galicia, is one 
of the largest and most renowned in the Kepublic. 
It covers an area of 50,120 square miles, and its 



122 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

population is estimated to number about 900,000. 
Guadalajara,* its capital, is next to the city of Mexico 
and Puebla the most important town in the country, 
although in point of population it is surpassed by Leon, 
a city which will claim a subsequent comment. It 
possesses about 75,000 inhabitants, and is situated in 
20° 41' 10" north latitude, and 103° 21' 15" longi- 
tude west of Greenwich, at an elevation of 5200 
feet above the level of the sea. This altitude in the 
tropics has the advantage of a climate very little 
short of perfection. Guadalajara forms no exception 
to the rule. Its inhabitants are in the enjoyment of 
perpetual summer, a light clear atmosphere, and a 
sky as bright and blue as sapphire itself. 

Despite a total absence of any system of drain- 
age, or other sanitary measures, and the habitual 
filthiness of the people, it is free from epidemics 
of all kinds, and sickness, as a rule, is easily and 
quickly cured, t 



* The word is taken from the Spanish town of the same name, the 
birthplace of Nuno de Guzman, the conqueror of the old kingdom of 
Tonala, the present Jalisco. 

+ An exception to this rule occurred in 1833, when a terrible visita- 
tion of Asiatic cholera carried off 3200 people in the months 
of August and September, the population then numbering about 
40,000. 



G UADALAJARA. 123 



The straight streets of the town are from thirty 
to fifty feet in width, indifferently paved, and at 
night very sparsely illuminated by oil-lamps. 

In the central quarters the houses are solidly built 
either of stone, brick or adobe, the latter preponderat- 
ing, are all plastered and white-washed, and display, 
some of them, tasteful frescoes on the outside. 
The majority are built in the peculiar fashion of 
the country, following no recognised style of archi- 
tecture, and are provided with an archway, closed by 
heavy wooden doors with enormous antique locks, 
and large square windows secured by a grating of 
iron bars. A few are more artistic in their design, 
and follow the Moorish or Arabesque style. They 
are all nearly two-storied, the windows of the upper 
floor being mostly furnished with narrow balconies, 
which in their turn are often tastefully ornamented 
with iron railings. The roofs are flat, and provided 
with the peculiar horizontal waterspouts (gurgoyles, 
as architects would say) emptying the rain on the 
pavement, and upon the very heads of the passers-by. 
The interior arrangements are the same as elsewhere in 
Mexico ; every house has its square inner yard, round 
which the building is constructed, and according to 



124 A FEEP AT MEXICO. 

the use that is made of the house, it is either em- 
ployed as a garden with trees, shrubs, and flowers, or 
as a store-room for cases, bales and boxes. All the 
rooms open into this patio, and where there are 
storeys above the ground-floor, a gallery runs all 
round the interior of the quadrangle. 

About half-a-dozen houses in Guadalajara are three- 
storied ; the most conspicuous of these is the Hotel 
Hidalgo, the rendezvous of the diligences, and a 
building of rather imposing an appearance. The 
accommodation, however, is said to be very in- 
different. 

The outlying quarters of the town are composed 
of very inferior buildings : one-storied, low, adobe 
houses, mostly with sloping tiled roofs, dirty and 
cheerless in the extreme. The inhabitants are in 
keeping with their domiciles, and struck me as being 
poorer and lower than even the wretched denizens 
of the small villages passed on our road. 

The plaza, as in all Mexican towns, forms, in Guada- 
lajara, the centre of all out-door life. It is a square 
of about a hundred yards each way, with broad 
walks round the four sides, lined with orange 
trees, and provided with seats. In the middle 



GUADALAJARA. . 125 



there is a fountain from which paved paths radiate to 
the sides. As in Colima, lamp-posts of the ordinary 
type are profusely distributed over the plaza, but as 
the manufacture of gas is still an enterprise of the 
future, and the oil-lamps seldom lighted, they are 
evidently intended for ornament more than for use ; 
though, as it happens, unfit for either purpose. 

The cathedral entirely occupies one length of the 
plaza, an extensive and imposing edifice, with 
two tapering steeples, and a fine dome covered with 
tiles of various colours, laid down in figures resem- 
bling mosaic. The effect of its beautiful proportions 
is marred by the tasteless application of the colours 
with which the outside is painted. The interior of 
the cathedral is noble and chaste, and the altar boasts 
four life-size statues of saints of rather superior 
execution — one at each corner. Owing to the pre- 
vailing darkness, the accompanying photograph of the 
interior is unfortunately wanting in detail, but will 
nevertheless give a better idea of the building than 
any necessarily meagre description can convey.* 



* The ground- stone of this cathedral was laid in 1571, forty-one 
years after the conquest of this part of the country, and the edifice com- 
pleted in 1618. 



126 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

On the opposite side of the plaza, and also occupy- 
ing an entire length of the square, stands the palacio, 
as an inscription over the large window in the 
centre indicates, the Casa de Gobierno del Estado, 
the house of the State Government. It is a tasteful, 
two-storied, comparatively modern structure, but 
nevertheless commencing to succumb to the inroads 
of time. 

The two other sides of the plaza are occupied 
by the portales, as Guadalajarans call the covered 
way formed by pillar- supported arches over the 
pavement. Under the portales are the best shops 
of the city. The spaces between the massive pillars 
are the resort of stall -keepers, who exhibit for sale 
a variety of articles, the principal being dulces 
(sweetmeats), for which Guadalajara enjoys no in- 
considerable reputation. Mexicans, generally, have 
an amiable weakness for sweet things, and didces 
are manufactured throughout the Eepublic ; but none, 
I am told, can compare with those of this city. 
Under the portales, stall after stall exhibits scores of 
these preparations, as also huge cakes covered with 
preserves and sold in slices, as well as refreshing drinks 
made from the juice and seeds of various fruits. 



GUADALAJARA. 127 

Dulces are such necessaries of life, and regular articles 
of consumption, that the different kinds have all their 
distinctive names. Thus the dulce prepared from 
lemons is called limonate, that from pine-apples pinate, 
from chirimoyas (or chirrimollas) chirimoyate, and 
so on. All the numerous kinds of tropical and 
semi-tropical fruits, grown either on the plateau 
or in the tierra caliente, are preserved or candied, 
or otherwise prepared, to add to the number 
of these Mexican delicacies. 

Other stalls are gay with toys, the manufacture 
of which is purely Mexican. Some of the pieces 
are most singular and original, whilst others are 
simple imitations of imported goods, but they are 
all cleverly made, and cost next to nothing. 

The most curious production sold under the por- 
tales, however, are the clay figures, manufactured by 
Indians near the city. In some cases they are almost 
worthy to rank with works of sculpture, a fact which 
excites the more astonishment when it is known that 
they are the handiwork of a people possessing no 
artistic training whatever, or even ordinary educa- 
tion. It is an indigenous craft, handed down from 
generation to generation, and was practised, doubt- 



128 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

less, long before Cortez introduced Spanish blood 
and customs. The images represent work-people, 
arrjeros, beggars, water-carriers, charcoal -vendors, 
soldiers and the like, in their peculiar costumes, 
and are finished with the utmost accuracy and 
fidelity to nature. I am informed that these 
Indians produce life-like portraits of any one who 
will give them a sitting, or will work by the aid 
of photographs or paintings. 

A large number of the stalls are provided with 
a locker, in which the wares are kept over night. 
These bear the name of cajones (boxes), and hence 
the name for all " portales " stalls. They are owned 
by Indians, or half-castes of a deep dye, who reside 
in the portales, where they also ply their traffic ; 
at night they sleep either in front of their cajones, 
or on one of the neighbouring doorsteps. 

There are fewer pure Indians in Guadalajara than 
in the towns so far visited by me, the great bulk of 
the population being mestizos. The foreign inha- 
bitants, though as regards wealth important, are 
numerically few. There are about fifty Spaniards, 
as many Germans, about twenty Americans, per- 
haps a dozen Frenchmen, and but very few English. 



GUADALAJARA. 129 



The Germans rank first commercially ; of the entire 
trade of Guadalajara, about two -thirds is in their 
hands, though the imported goods are mostly of 
English manufacture.* 

Four cotton-factories, and a large paper-mill, are 
in operation not far from the city. The latter is 
owned by the richest family in the State of 
Jalisco, and supplies a great part of the Kepublic 
with cigarette -wrappers (of which the consumption 
is enormous), and with various descriptions of 
common paper. Of the cotton-factories, the one 
called "Salto" is the property of my kind hosts, 

the five brothers L , who were alone at the 

time able to work their mill profitably. The other 
manufactories were at work, though on a reduced 
scale, with the sole view of preventing their entire 
suspension. The articles of produce, as at Colima, 
are mantcis and coarse yarns ; whilst there are 
a large number of minor establishments where con- 
siderable quantities of rebozos, sarapes, and fajas 
are woven. 



* The chief home industry of the Guadalajarans consists in tanning 
leather, the manufacture of somhreros, and in the spinning and weaving of 
wool and cotton. 

I 



130 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

The " Salto " factory is about three miles from 
the city, where a small but deep stream leaps 
into a lovely cascade over rocks of lava forma- 
tion, and causes the motive-power through the 
medium of a turbine-wheel. The buildings are 
surrounded by fields, gardens, and orchards of some 
extent. In the former a small quantity of 
cotton is grown, which at the time of my visit 
was just ripening, whilst in the latter vegetables 
and delicious fruits loaded ground and tree ; 
here I gathered magnificent strawberries in abund- 
ance on Christmas-day. 

Many are the stories of brigands and plagiarios 
(kidnappers) in connection with this factory. 
Nothing short of confirmed habit and thorough 
acclimatisation can induce the owners of this pro- 
perty to remain in a country that offers but few 
material advantages, whilst it involves dangers 
and discomforts of a serious character. 

About two years ago, the eldest Mr L 

was kidnapped whilst on his way from the fac- 
tory to his town residence, carried off to the moun- 
tains, and there detained for more than a week, 
until ransomed for 4000 dollars. The miscreants 



GUADALAJARA. 131 



were never punished, nor even tracked by the 
authorities. 

The reader must pardon these repeated allusions 
to brigandage, but, as it forms one of the chief 
topics of conversation throughout Mexico, its con- 
stant introduction into my journal is explained. 

At the time of my arrival in Guadalajara, an 
event that had happened some weeks previously 
was still in every mind and on every tongue. I 
refer to an accident that befel a picnic party of 
about twenty ladies and gentlemen belonging to the 
best families of Guadalajara. They had gone in 
carriages and on horseback to a retired spot, three 
miles from the town, to enjoy an afternoon in the 
country. No sooner had they arrived at their des- 
tination, and scarcely had they commenced arrange- 
ments for the intended meal, when they noticed 
the approach of twelve men, whose designs were 
not to be mistaken. 

As usual in this country the gentlemen of the 
party were well armed, but apprehending an attack 
they relinquished all thoughts of protecting those 
under their charge; and with the exception of 
one plucky father and his son, the whole gallant 



132 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

company hastily mounted their horses, and de- 
camped as fast as they could, leaving wives, 
children, and sisters, to the mercy of the ladrones, 
who at once proceeded to strip them of all they 
possessed. The ruffians, as it turned out, were with- 
out fire-arms of any sort, and were only equipped 
with machetas and sticks ; no one was wounded, 
but the ladies had the intense mortification of 
returning considerably lighter both in purse and 
apparel than when they set out. 

Although cowardice in everyday-life is the rule, 
and not the exception, in Mexico, yet the behaviour 
of these runaways was so contemptible and ridicu- 
lous, that they became the butts of satire and 
opprobrium throughout the city. The papers com- 
mented upon their conduct, and the affair was 
made the subject of a farce at one of the small 
theatres. In spite of all this, however, there are 
many good citizens who loudly approve of the act, 
as the only means by which bloodshed could be 
averted. 

During my stay at Guadalajara, similar attacks 
on houses and individuals were of daily occur- 
rence, and it was considered hazardous to walk 



GUADALAJARA. 133 



through the streets after sunset. In returning 
home of a night we invariably walked in the 
middle of the road, to avoid a surprise at the 
corners, and never dreamed of venturing out 
after dark without loaded revolvers. Several times 
between nine and ten o'clock in the evening, 
the report of heavy firing was heard only a few 
streets off, proceeding, as we learnt next morning, 
from systematic attacks by large bands on the 
house of some individual citizen. One of these 
gangs was dispersed by the garrison, and some of 
the robbers taken prisoners, when it was found 
that the Chief of the Police was not only one 
of their band, but actually at the head of the 
lawless crew. 

One of the numerous and singular newspapers 
published twice a week in Guadalajara, a tiny sheet 
composed of eight pages, each measuring six inches 
by four, called Juan Panadero (John the Baker), was 
literally crammed with nothing else but accounts of 
misdeeds by brigands and comments thereon. This 
Liliputian journal is the most popular of all Jalisco 
publications, and enjoys by far the most extended 
circulation. It serves no party, but fearlessly 



134 A PEEP AT MEXICO 

exposes as many crimes and defects of administra- 
tion as its limited space will allow. 

Happy editor! He is never in want of news, 
and could, without the slightest effort, fill a daily 
sheet as voluminous as the Times, instead of his 
dwarf-issue. 

Another newspaper, of slightly larger size, and 
also published twice a week, is the Voz de 
Jalisco. It is owned and edited by the priests, 
and its contents are in accordance with their 
aims and opinions. The number seen by me was 
almost entirely absorbed by an article fiercely attack- 
ing Protestants and Protestantism, and containing 
the most sophistical arguments ever advanced. 

There are no daily papers in Guadalajara, but 
from eight to ten bi-weekly and weekly chronicles, 
which are, however, for the most part short-lived. 
Almost every week witnesses the demise of one 
publication, and the birth of another ; so that 
at the end of the year one or two alone have 
survived the vicissitudes of existence. 

A pamphlet published by a well-known priest, 
and directed against the American missionaries, 
who are beginning in small numbers to work all 



GUADALAJARA. 135 



over the Kepublic, was the subject of some con- 
versation. The utterly ludicrous arguments of the 
writer, his clumsy flatteries when speaking of the 
citizens of Guadalajara, and the vehement language 
in which he inveighed against the missionaries, 
gave rise to pity rather than to indignation, and to 
feelings of mirth rather than of anger. He repeatedly 
remarks on the high degree of civilisation to which 
Mexico, and the Guadalajarans especially, have 
attained, owing to their fidelity to the Roman 
Catholic Church, stigmatises all that emanates 
from the United States as barbarous, and pro- 
nounces the English language to be fit for clogs 
alone. * Surely, this man cannot himself believe 



* On March 1st, 1874, the Rev. Mr Stephens, an American Protestant 
missionary at Ahualulco, in the district of Guadalajara, was attacked 
by three hundred individuals armed with daggers, sticks, and stones, 
who amid furious cries burst open the door of his house. Mr Stephens 
took refuge in the yard, but was soon reached by the fanatics, who 
speedily murdered him, afterwards quartering and otherwise fearfully 
mutilating the poor man's body. The local authorities rather aided 
than resisted the wretches, who finally pillaged the house and destroyed 
everything they could not carry off. It was after the termination 
of the Roman Catholic service that this barbarous act was committed, 
and that in consequence of a vehement sermon delivered by the priest 
of Ahualulco against the Protestants. He concluded his address with 
the words : " A tree bearing bad fruit ought to be cut at the root ; my 
friends, interpret these words as best you understand them," and out 
rushed the ignorant, bestial crowd, like so many wolves, to interpret 
their instructor's utterings in the only way conceivable to them. 



136 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

what he writes ; but he evidently understands his 
readers ; and there is unfortunately no doubt that 
nine-tenths of them accept his every word as truth, 
and unhesitatingly adopt his view. 

During the week of my stay in Guadalajara, 
I had ample opportunity for seeing all the " lions " 
of the place ; for there are but few. 

In company with one of the first physicians of 
the town, I visited the two great benevolent institu- 
tions, of which the citizens are justly proud. In 
the midst of such numerous abuses, and among 
a population as corrupt as they are bigoted and 
superstitious, these charities shine out as bright 
stars in a dark and clouded sky. 

We commenced by the Hospital cle San Miguel 
de Belen, a series of one-storied buildings, very 
plainly but substantially constructed of stone and 
adobe, all in communication with one another, and 
standing on an extensive piece of ground. On 
entering, I at once came to a circular hall, the 
meeting point of six long chambers, which radiate 
from the centre in the same manner as the corridors 
of modern prisons. The three chambers on the left 
are sick wards for men, the three on the right destined 



GUADALAJARA. 137 



for women. One ward in each division is set apart 
for contagious diseases, another for ailments of a non- 
infectious kind, and the third for patients sent in 
from the prisons. These latter wards are guarded 
by soldiers. The men's wards are open towards 
the central hall, whilst those of the women are 
shut off by large folding-doors. I inspected one 
of the former, and though almost each bed was 
occupied, the atmosphere was perfectly pure, and 
the utmost cleanliness prevailed. The wards are 
very lofty, and the ventilation and arrangements 
generally admirable. The women are attended by 
Sisters of Charity, whilst the men have male 
nurses. 

The rooms on a corridor near the wards are set 
apart for medical students, of whom there are 
always a large number at the hospital. One of them 
was most pressing in his desire to show me the 
dissecting-room, which contained the mutilated body 
of a young half-caste. 

This room was full of sight-seers, who apparently 
devoted as much or more time to this melancholy 
spectacle as to viewing the rest of the building. 
Such is the taste of the people ! 



138 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

The buildings of the Hospital de Belen proved 
to contain not only an hospital, as we understand 
the terra, but also an asylum for the insane, a school 
for little children, and finally (and this struck me 
as the strangest of all), a large burial-ground, the 
principal cemetery in Gaudalajara. The different 
departments of the institution are kept entirely 
distinct, and are separated by tastefully planted 
parterres. The portion devoted to the lunatics 
comprises a suite of spacious rooms, and a yard 
surrounded by cells. The latter are intended for 
the raging mad, of whom there were about half- 
a-dozen at the time of ray visit, whilst a large 
number of harmless individuals were moving about 
without restraint. A few miserable beings clad in 
rags, and unspeakably ugly, were squatting about 
the walls, or seeking a cowering concealment 
in corners as we approached : these were cases 
of hopeless idiocy ; and the poor creatures were 
left in their tattered state, as new clothes would 
be reduced to the same condition almost as soon as 
received. There are" several rooms set apart for the 
insane of rich families, who pay for the superior 



GUADALAJARA. 139 



accommodation, which accounts for the absence of 
white patients in the public wards. 

After visiting the dispensary, kitchen, and store- 
rooms, all managed by Sisters of Charity, we came 
to the school-rooms, where children from two to six 
years of age obtain rudimentary instruction gratui- 
tously. Sisters also superintend this department, 
but although much of the work is in their hands, 
they have no share in the supreme direction. A 
committee of citizens conduct the latter. 

Before leaving the hospital we examined the burial- 
ground, known by the name of Cimenterio de Belen, 
which covers a space of about six acres within its 
walls. It is entirely different from all similar places 
in the United States and the greater part of Europe.* 
The square ground is bounded on three sides by broad 
colonnades, each of about 120 yards in length. 
The inner sides of these arcades contain six tiers 
of gavetas — i.e., niches in the wall intended to 
receive the coffins. These gavetas are two feet 
square, and have eight feet horizontal depth ; 
when filled, the open square in front is closed, and 
receives the stone with the inscription. A hundred 

* Similar arrangements exist in some parts of Spain and Southern Italy. 



140 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

dollars is the price of the freehold of a gaveta, but 
they may be rented for twenty-five dollars for a 
period of five years. If, at the end of the term, 
however, the lease is not renewed, the coffin is 
removed, and the gaveta is at the disposal of the 
next applicant. To judge from the number of 
empty niches distributed over the walls, it would 
appear that five or ten years have a most soothing 
influence on the hearts and memories of the pious 
people of Guadalajara. 

There are a number of graves and vaults in the 
open space, where interments, according to our own 
custom, have been made ; and in the centre of the 
cemetery stands a well-designed, but now time- 
worn chapel-like edifice, underneath which lies a 
vault containing the remains of countless ecclesi- 
astical dignitaries. 

Very little care seems to be bestowed on the 
gardens of the cemetery; there are no memorial 
garlands on the graves, no trees planted, except 
several rows of orange trees, leading up to the 
chapel, and which, when I saw them, were heavy 
with the golden fruit. 

Next to this part of the cemetery, and separated 



GUADALAJARA. 141 

from it by a substantial wall, is the burial-place 
of the poor. It is a dismal, desolate place. There 
are no gavetas here, nor, as far as I could see, indi- 
vidual graves ; the moneyless dead seem to command 
even less respect here than the moneyless living, 
and have apparently to share a common tomb. 

Our next visit was to the Hospicio. This is a 
grand institution, not only in regard to size and 
building, but chiefly as concerns its truly benevolent 
purposes, and the objects it so efficiently realises. 

"What with us is divided among a large number 
of charities is here united in one vast organisation ; 
and whilst, on the one hand, its aim is to rear and 
educate for the battle of life those who through cir- 
cumstances lack the assistance of parents and friends, 
it forms on the other an asylum for those who, in 
their old age, find themselves deprived of the means 
of sustenance.* 



* According to the " Constitution's " of this institution, drawn up 
in 1802, and approved by the King of Spain by decree of September 5th, 
1803, the following are entitled to admittance in the Hospicio: — 1st. 
Children of both sexes "exposed" in the same (foundlings). 2nd. The 
aged of both sexes, who owing to advanced years are unable to work 
for their sustenance. 3rd. The blind, the deaf and dumb, the crippled 
and infirm, and incurables of all ages. 4th. Boys and girls of tender 
age, who are either orphans or have been deserted by their parents, and 
sons of fathers who, on account of poverty, are unable to keep and educate 



142 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

The Hospicio is situate on the eastern side of 
the small stream which runs through the town, and 
divides it into two unequal parts, and is approached 
by a wide street lined with orange trees. Walking 
up this street, the facade of the building forming 
its termination affords an imposing view, with its 
pillared portico and graceful dome. Eight and left 
from the entrance run out high, substantial walls, 
enclosing the entire establishment, which covers an 
area of upwards of eight acres. 

The institution includes solidly - constructed 
buildings, mostly one-storied, and closely resembling 
those in the Hospital de Belen. Each block is 
constructed round the sides of a patio. There are 



them. 5th. Daughters and young sons of married men belonging to the 
second and third classes, no matter whether the girls are suffering or in 
good, robust health. 6th. Boys and girls not exceeding ten years of age, 
whose fathers wish to place them in the establishment for purposes of 
correction, and who are willing to pay for their maintenance and cloth- 
ing. As appears from the same document the following are the subjects 
to be taught to boys : Heading, writing, arithmetic, the principles of 
geometry, and drawing. To girls, reading, sewing, embroidering, wash- 
ing, ironing, spinning, making stockings, ribbons, fajas (see page 58) and 
buttons ; cooking, and other occupations fitted to their sex. Youths are 
to be instructed in the combing and spinning of cotton and wool, in the 
manufacture of stockings and other hosiery, caps, gloves, ribbons, fajas, 
and buttons, and other work suited to their age and respective circum- 
stances ; and to all generally is to be given instruction in the articles of 
the faith. 



GUADALAJARA. 143 



no less than twenty-four such blocks, and conse- 
quently as many interior squares, with bananas, 
orange, lemon and coffee trees. The different de- 
partments are all mutually connected, and over the 
entrance to each its name is inscribed in large 
letters. The entire establishment is under the 
management of Sisters of Charity, assisted by 
some members of the priesthood. As far as 
outward appearances can testify, their duties are 
performed to perfection. 

One of the Sisters conducted us over the whole 
institution, to see which employed an entire after- 
noon. 

That which at home would be termed the 
" Foundling Hospital " is one of the most inter- 
esting. It is a large and lofty hall lined with 
cradles, in which poor innocents are commencing 
an existence — doomed perhaps to be the less 
smooth and happy from the peculiar circumstances 
of their birth. Here we saw white infants nursed 
by dark Indian women with a cheerfulness and 
loving care quite pleasant to behold, equalling, if 
not surpassing, the attention that the little 



144 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

unfortunates could have received from their white 
mothers. 

Noticing that some of the cradles were much 
superior to others, and furnished in a rich and 
luxurious manner, I inquired the cause, and was 
informed of a curious fact in connection with this 
department. 

The great majority of infants deposited at the 
Hospicio are born of mothers belonging to the 
better classes; and a few days after the reception 
of a foundling, money, clothing, and other necessaries 
are not unfrequently sent to be devoted to the 
child. In most cases the names of one or even 
of both the parents are disclosed, and regular 
payment is made until the child leaves the 
home. This can hardly be considered real charity, 
and the continuance of the practice will doubtless 
operate against the interests of morality. 

What we should term an Orphan Asylum is 
represented in the Hospicio by a number of large, 
airy saloons, used partly as dormitories, partly as 
schoolrooms. Up to the age of three the children 
remain in the " Cuna " (the department above 
mentioned, the word signifying cradle), when they 



GUADALAJARA. 145 



are promoted to their first school. We found the 
schoolroom alive with little learners, who politely 
rose as we entered, and treated us to a half-son or 
half-chant, amid regularly performed motions of 
hands and arms. In this school they remain 
till the age of six, when the sexes are separated, 
and what has hitherto been classed under the col- 
lective term of infantes, is now divided into schools 
for niiios and schools for niiias, which are two 
departments complete and distinct in themselves. 
After the age of twelve the boys enter another 
section directed by masters (mostly priests), instead 
of the Sisters of Charity, who up to that point 
are entrusted with the entire government, whilst 
the girls enter a superior class, still under the 
guidance of Sisters. In these grades both boys and 
girls receive instruction in music, which, favoured 
by the natural talent of Mexicans for this art, at- 
tains a degree of great excellence ; in drawing, 
painting, and in the study of foreign languages. 
We visited a number of rooms belonging both 
to niiios and niiias, the walls of which were 
hung with capital specimens of drawings, paintings, 
and geographical maps. 



11$ A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Progressing further, we found the girls who 
had outgrown the schools, employed in sewing, 
knitting, and embroidering, or assisting in the 
culinary department, according to their different 
tastes and abilities. The embroidery worked in 
the Hospicio is celebrated throughout Mexico, and 
I for one was much struck with its delicacy. 
The brightest silks are by this accomplishment 
developed into landscapes and portraits, and I 
invested in a Mexican eagle of many hues wrought 
on both sides, and a marvel of the art.* 

The boys after leaving school are received into 
workshops of various descriptions. I saw them 
apprenticed as bakers, tailors, bootmakers, carpen- 
ters, locksmiths, printers, weavers, and other trades. 
Almost every requisite for the Hospicio is made 
by the adults of both sexes in the establishment 
itself. 

The young men, at the age of about twenty- 
one, generally quit the institution, and easily find 
employment in their various trades and profes- 
sions, as pupils of the Hospicio are engaged in 
preference to any other applicants. The girls are 

* See frontispiece. 



GUADALAJARA. 147 



sought after as governesses and superior servants, 
or remain in their early home until their marriage. 

It must not be inferred from this, that the insti- 
tution occupies itself with foundlings and orphans 
alone. On the contrary, the great bulk of its inmates 
is composed of children recruited from all classes of 
society, who for the greater part reside with their 
parents, and frequent the Hospicio daily for tuition. 
The poor are provided with clothes besides 
gratuitous instruction, whilst those who have the 
means pay for all they receive. There is also a High 
School in the establishment, where the rising gene- 
ration may profit by the erudition and talent of 
the city. 

"We next proceeded to the quarters of the aged 
men and women — the infirmary, the dispensary, the 
kitchen, store-rooms and other departments ; and, be- 
fore leaving, visited the church within the precincts 
of the institution. It is an elegant building, with 
fine dome, shapely pillars, and walls profusely orna- 
mented with paintings. This being Christmas-time, 
an extraordinary doll-show was, as it were, the reredos 
of the altar, representing the birth of Christ in the 
manger, with cows, and asses, and the seven wise men. 



148 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

So far it resembled similar arrangements in Italian and 
Spanish churches at this period of the year, but the 
shepherds and shepherdesses who surrounded the 
chief figures were unmistakably of Tyrolese nation- 
ality — the men with breeches and alpenstock, and the 
women with short petticoats and pointed hats. Some 
German trader had no doubt received a cheap cargo 
of these Alpine figures, and the ignorance of the 
purchasers added to the already puerile performance 
another ludicrous feature. 

The Hospicio contains upwards of a thousand 
inmates, including the Sisters of Charity, masters and 
attendants. Of this number seven hundred are 
children, and about two hundred aged men and women. 
The establishment possesses a certain income of its 
own, but the city of Guadalajara has to contribute 
yearly to its funds. 

On another day we visited the girls' school of San 
Diego, which, as far as I could see, appeared to be 
excellently conducted. Until about seven years ago 
the building which it occupies was a convent ; it 
is a substantial two-storied edifice, enclosing a fine 
square. The school is entirely under lay manage- 
ment, and rejoices in perfect immunity from the 



GUADALAJARA. 149 



priests. The system of tuition is based on the same 
plan as that of the upper forms in the Hospicio, 
and the arrangements generally appear very similar 
to those' of the latter, but I found the girls brighter 
and more cheerful, and one seemed to breathe 
a freer atmosphere. The embroidery worked at 
San Diego equals, if it does not surpass, that at 
the Hospicio. 

I had no opportunity of visiting more schools, but 
was told that a fair number of them for both sexes 
have been established during the last few years; 
that they are well conducted, and receive due 
attention from the authorities. 

Guadalajara possesses two places of public entertain- 
ment : the theatre and the bull-arena. The former, 
when first indicated to me, appeared like an old 
Roman ruin, and I could hardly believe that this pile 
of apparently antique walls, columns, and loose, strag- 
gling stones, could show a capacious, symmetrical, 
and tolerably decorated playhouse as its interior. But 
such is the case. Here is another instance of that 
neglect so ordinary in Mexico : an imposing structure, 
well planned, commenced in grand style, but after 
a time left unfinished to crumble to ruin. The 



150 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

building covers a large area, and if perfected would 
doubtless have been magnificent ; at present there 
seems to be no hope of its final completion. 

The inside is almost as laro-e as that of Covent 
Garden Theatre, and is six storeys high. Five of the 
tiers are devoted to boxes, and the sixth forms the 
galleiy. On account of the climate, the furniture in 
the theatres is not encumbered with superfluous and 
stuffy draperies, as with us, which at first sight 
lends them a cold and almost comfortless aspect ; 
but the briefest experience will attest the advantages 
derived from the use of the most simple accessories. 
Thus the box-tiers are built exclusively of white- 
washed masonry, thin iron railings about two feet 
high serving as partitions, the breastwork in front 
being of the same fabric but a foot higher. There 
is no division on the ground-floor for pit and stalls, 
but the space is filled with rough chairs, and 
all seats rank alike. The house is lighted by oil- 
lamps fixed in all its parts; they are, however, 
wholly insufficient for the brilliance so essential to 
theatrical effect. 

"II Barbiere " was the opera I heard in this house, 
performed in Italian. Besides the impressario, 



GUADALAJARA. 151 



however, who was also the baritone, there was 
not one other Italian amongst the company. The 
rest came from South and Central America, and 
"Kosina" was impersonated by a Mexican, and a 
native, I believe, of Guadalajara. Opera performances 
take place twice a week, and are well attended ; the 
large house was almost full when I was there, though 
it can accommodate over three thousand people. The 
singing was fair, and the whole entertainment much 
better than I was led to anticipate. 

Bull-fights are prohibited in most states of the 
Mexican Eepublic, but in Jalisco they continue to 
flourish. Whatever may justly be urged against the 
cruelty of the practice, and its demoralising effects 
on the population, it is, certainly, when considered 
from a physiological point of view, one of the most 
extraordinary sights imaginable. 

A performance had been announced for Christmas- 
day, but as, contrary to all old-established rules of 
the dry season, it then' poured with rain, it had to 
be deferred, and I witnessed one of the regular 
Sunday-afternoon entertainments. 

The bull-arena is close by the Hospicio, and 
the entrance to it is in the same broad street that 



152 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

fronts the latter. It is a solid stone building, simi- 
lar in shape and arrangement to the ancient Eoman 
amphitheatres, and much resembling the Spanish 
arenas of the present day. It consists of a circus 
about 150 feet in diameter, open towards the sky, 
and enclosed by seven tiers of sittings, of which the 
uppermost alone is roofed over. The latter is broader 
than the rest, and provided on the shady side of the 
ring with chairs, for the accommodation of those 
who wish to pay for that luxury. The great majority 
of the audience, however, are seated on small cushions 
placed on the stone benches, whilst the common 
people crowd into the sunny portion of the arena, 
where seats or standing-room cost a mere trifle. 
The flat narrow roof of the top tier is generally 
occupied by a detachment of soldiers, under the com- 
mand of an officer, to act in case of disturbance. 

In the morning the performers paraded the town 
on foot and on horseback, attired in gaudy cos- 
tumes, and accompanied by drummers and trum- 
peters, who succeeded between them in evoking a 
hideous din. At two o'clock in the afternoon, 
the band took its post in the street, outside 
the Plazo de Progreso (as the place in which the 



GUADALAJARA. 153 



arena stands is appropriately called), and played 
their choicest pieces, nntil, at fonr o'clock, the 
commencement of the fight was announced. The 
musicians then proceeded to their allotted space 
within the circle, and throughout the performance 
prolonged their inspiriting strains. 

Bull-fights have been described a thousand 
times, and the feats of matador es, banderilleros, and 
picador es } are almost as familiar to the general 
reader as the tours de force of acrobats on the tight- 
rope or the trapeze. It is, therefore, unnecessary 
to repeat the details of a performance, the main 
features of which are the same in all latitudes ; but 
I cannot refrain from a record of the en- 
thusiasm and vigour with which the entertainment 
was watched by the applauding audience, who 
followed every movement of man and beast with 
an extraordinary eagerness. 

This savage Spanish custom could have cast its 
seed into no more fertile soil than that of Mexico; 
and it has so acclimatised itself, that the pure-blooded 
Indian now enters into the practice with the same 
keen interest as the true descendant of old Spain, 
or the half-bred mestizo. Corridas de Toros (bull- 



1 54 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

races, as they are politely termed) have attended the 
Spaniards in all their wanderings, and have become 
the chief national sport of their colonies, whatever 
may have been the aboriginal element. But it 
is doubtful whether there is any place where the 
custom is more ardently sustained and the popular 
spirit more thoroughly enlisted in its favour than 
in Guadalajara. 

Bull-fighting appears especially suited to the 
Mexican character : there is enough of bloodshed 
to gratify their cruel tendencies ; enough of 
seeming danger to stimulate a morbid craving 
for excitement, and an abundance of opportunity 
for the disgusting display of swagger and mock- 
heroism. The risk incurred by the combatants is 
in reality exceedingly small, and the whole per- 
formance an exhibition of execrable cowardice. 

The "play-bill," printed on red paper, announced 
in conspicuous type that cuatro arrogantes toros 
would be "fought to death," but the poor brutes 
looked anything but arrogant when they entered the 
ring, with an iron spike driven into their loins to 
goad them to fury. The young and ill-fed bulls were 
startled rather than infuriated by the unwonted 



GUADALAJARA. 155 



appearance of the audience, and it required the 
combined efforts of music, shouts, red cloths, and 
various instruments of torture, to nerve them to 
self-defence. The wretched animals, however, are 
hopelessly confronted by swarms of men, armed 
not only with deadly weapons, but with a variety of 
appliances calculated to divert the animal's attention, 
when in the act of charging any individual opponent. 
The latter have likewise the advantage of shelter- 
ing screens, if too closely pressed, whilst his horns, 
the only weapon of the bull, have been previously 
shortened by several inches, in order to reduce 
the danger of his adversaries to a minimum. 
They are thus teased, worried, and tortured, and 
when at length their various discomforts have 
sufficiently gratified the spectators, a sword-thrust 
in the region of the heart brings them to the 
ground, and a stab between the head and the 
spine ends their agonies. 

The spectators side with the bull, and cheer 
him wildly if he shows pluck and succeeds in 
unseating a rider, or upsetting or wounding one 
of the horses. The latter, as a rule, are the only 
victims on the side of the attacking party. If 



15G A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

a horse should fall, and the assailants think dis- 
cretion the better part of valour, the bull will some- 
times pierce the body with his horns, and nothing 
excites the enthusiasm of the audience in a greater 
degree, than to see a horse removed from the 
arena, with his protruding entrails draggling on 
the ground. 

A timid bull is vociferously hissed, and the frantic 
occupants of the lower tiers endeavour to rouse 
him, by throwing at him whatever missile is within 
their grasp from the cushions on which they sit 
to their own sombreros and sarapes. If this also 
prove unsuccessful, shouts of "fuera " are raised 
until the bull is lazoed, dragged from the ring, 
and another of more mettle substituted. 

The audiences of bull-fights are composed of all 
the various elements of the population. Neither 
rank, race, sex, or age, interferes with its attrac- 
tions ; and whites, mestizos and Indios, men, women, 
and children, are all numerously represented. 

The women take the same interest in the spectacle 
as the men, and if they are less demonstrative than 
the latter, their fiery eyes and flushed cheeks betray 
an eagerness and passion equally keen. 



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GUADALAJARA. 157 



111 the evenings of Sundays and feast-days, the 
beauty and fashion of Guadalajara assemble in the 
paseo. This is a wide road lined on both sides 
by fine old trees, whose overhanging branches meet 
half-way. It runs nearly parallel with the small 
river, and along almost the entire length of the 
western part of the city — a distance of about a mile 
and a quarter. At its northern termination is 
situated the alameda or public garden, prettily 
arranged and covering about five acres, surrounded 
by a high wall with quaint old iron gates, and 
a wide ditch on the outside. It is laid out in broad 
walks, centred on a circular space, where a fountain 
trickles into a marble basin. Trees, shrubs, and 
flowers are worthy of the city and its climate. 

The paseo is the Kotten Kow of Guadalajara. The 
ladies appear in carriages, tricked out in their best, 
whilst the men in all the glory of the charro prance 
about on their small horses with their huge saddles. 
The carriages that congregate here form the oddest 
mixture of vehicles; they are of all denominations, 
sizes, and patterns ; some profusely painted and 
embellished, others plain ; some imported from the 



158 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

United States, others from France and England, but 
nearly all shakey and shabby. 

Their inmates are either arrayed in plain and 
becoming black, or in less sober colours, their bare 
heads veiled with the mantilla, and may be seen 
exchanging smiles and greetings with the cavalier vs, 
who are in the habit of forming line at the corner 
of the paseo and the alameda (on the left hand side 
in the accompanying photograph), allowing the 
carriages to pass before them — tout comme chez nous 
in Hyde Park. 

During the day, when the sun is too powerful to 
allow of walks being taken in the open, the portales 
are the fashionable promenade. There young ladies 
accompanied by their mothers, or attended by an 
old servant, indulge in the interesting occupation of 
shopping, or strolling up and down the shady walk ; 
young men, who contrive to absent themselves from 
their occupations, will be waiting to catch a glimpse of 
a charming senorita ; officers of the Jalisco guard, 
or the gensdarmes, may be admired as they strut 
jauntily in their high top-boots and clattering spurs, 
whilst knots of beggars line the doorsteps, and the 



GUADALAJARA. 159 



stall -owners and their friends assist in effectually 
crowding the thoroughfare. 

After dinner in the evenings, the plaza is the 
favourite place of assemblage. Every other day 
military bands perform there between the hours 
of seven and nine, and all the town turn out to 
enjoy the music and to perambulate the square. 
This is managed in a most regular and sys- 
tematic manner, which, under similar circum- 
stances, might elsewhere be imitated with advan- 
tage. The ladies keep strictly to one side of the 
avenue, and the gentlemen to the other, whilst they 
move round in opposite directions, thus continually 
confronting one another. This tacit arrangement is, I 
am told, never violated, and forms the main attrac- 
tion of the vuelta after dinner. 

It is only on these and similar occasions 
that the youth of Guadalajara have an oppor- 
tunity of meeting. Social intercourse of the 
better classes, is placed on a perfectly different 
footing from our own ; and if French, Italian, and 
Spanish seclusion with regard to young girls is a 
matter of surprise to us, the customs observed in 
Mexico are still more so. Unless their re- 



160 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

spective families are very intimate, no young man 
is admitted into the houses of people who have 
grown-up daughters, and such a phenomenon as 
wooing and winning, as we understand it, is 
perfectly unheard of. Dinner-parties and balls are 
almost unknown among thorough Mexicans, and 
even in the capital, more European in many of its 
customs than the rest of the Eepublic, where a 
large number of foreign residents may be said to be 
acting as educators, social gatherings of any kind 
are quite exceptional. 

Such being the case, young people look upon the 
portales, the plaza, the theatre, the bull -ring, and 
the paseo as the only places of legitimate meet- 
ing ; and if, by the eloquent language of the 
eyes, and the subsequent instrumentality of mutual 
friends, a couple have decided to unite for life, the 
lovers' path is still strewn with thorns, and their 
meeting most jealously prohibited. Even if the 
parents approve of their children's wishes the suitor 
is not admitted to his fiancees house ; and until the 
wedding-day their companionship is restricted to mid- 
night conversations whispered from the balcony 
of the lady's room into the street below. Such scenes 



GUADALAJARA. 1G1 

were by no means scarce in Guadalajara, and every 
night I saw many a fair maiden draped with the 
mantilla, softly signalling to her lover beneath, who, 
with poncho thrown over his shoulder, reminded me 
not a little of operatic serenades, the absence of the 
guitar forming the only difference. If the old adage 
— "necessity is the mother of invention" — required 
any additional illustration to establish its truth, it 
might be found in the handy appliance, invented 
by the fair sex for the purpose of exchanging 
correspondence, and consisting in nothing more 
romantic than a pulley of string reaching from the 
balcony to the ground. These, to us, ridiculous 
practices, are here the acknowledged form of court- 
ship, and although reserved for the quiet of night, 
and apparently cultivated in a clandestine manner, 
are well known to and approved of by the parents. 
All provincial towns of Mexico, and especially 
those of the State of Jalisco, reproduce in a hun- 
dred ways all the life, manners, and customs of the 
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries ; and whilst in the 
Old World they now exist in books and tradition 
only, a walk through the streets of a Mexican town, 
or a peep into its houses, or a visit to its churches, 

L 



162 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

supply an unquestionable proof that in this part 
of the New World they still endure and flourish. 

Coming from the United States, as I did, the 
thorough contrast between the two portions of the 
North American Continent afforded matter for per- 
petual comment. In the States, activity, energy and 
enterprise, on every side; in Mexico, lassitude, in- 
difference and stagnation : there, customs and society 
on a level with the highest European civilisation; 
here, habits and usages, handed down unchanged from 
the barbarism of the Middle Ages : there, prosperous 
towns rapidly increasing in size and population; 
here, cities and edifices almost untouched since the 
first Spanish colonists built them, now dilapidated and 
crumbling to ruin: there, new inventions, modern 
machinery and railways ; here, the clumsy remnants 
of mediaeval appliances— no steam engine,* no loco- 
motive, but roads whose fiendish unevenness can 
be only appreciated by those who have experi- 
enced them : there, a hardy race constantly re- 
cruited from the best material of the Old World, 
to whose power and energy the aborigines have 



* There is not a single steam-engine of any kind in the entire State 
of Jalisco. 



G UADALAJARA. 1 G3 



been forced to succumb; here, the degenerate de- 
scendants of a people, originally too weak to avoid 
admixture with the indigenous tribes, and now 
but an isolated half-caste breed, endowed with all 
the conceit, but none of the chivalry of the con- 
querors, nor any of the virtues of the natives ; there, 
the enlightened ideas of reformed religion, tolerance, 
philosophy and education ; here, the dark, super- 
stitious, idolatrous creed, which a corrupt and crafty 
priesthood has for generations ingrafted on the 
hearts of a feeble and yielding people — in a word, 
the fanatical intolerance and ignorance, fostered and 
encouraged by all the arts and perseverance of 
Roman Catholicism. 



CHAPTER VII. 

FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 

Departure from Guadalajara — San Pedro — A poor district — Beggars — 
The valley of the Lerma — Lago de Chapala— Puente de Tololotlan 
— Zapotlanejo — A joke — Puente de Calderon — Tepatitlan — Sterile 
country — La Venta de Pegueros— A forced halt — San Juan de los 
Lagos — Its saint and its fair — Organo fences — Lagos — A clean 
diputado — Arboles del Peru or Peruvian Pepper trees — Enter J;he 
State of Guanajuato — Leon — Silao — Rugged country — Marfil — 
Arrival at Guanaj uato. 

At five o'clock in the morning of the last day of the 
year 1873, I quitted Guadalajara on my way east- 
ward across the Republic. 

A vehicle similar to that which had brought me 
here was now about to take me further ; and 
both cochero and cattle were, to judge from 
externals, the twins of their predecessors. The 
passengers' luggage, according to regulations, 
had been weighed on the previous evening, and, 
as far as I was concerned, tremendously charged 
for, so that no time was wasted in setting off at 
the hour appointed. 

My ticket had been taken as if for one 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 165 

Sefior Mendoza, since it was feared that the name 
of a foreigner misrht stimulate the ever-watchful 
plagkirios to a stroke of business in the way of kid- 
napping, and I rejoiced in that distinguished cog- 
nomen until my diligence troubles had ended. 

There were seven passengers inside the coach 
besides myself; consequently only a single vacant seat 
remained, for which, as it happened to be between an 
Austrian gentleman and myself, we agreed to pay, 
so as mutually to enjoy a little more space. 

Away we rattled through the dark streets of 
Guadalajara, and over the indescribable pavement, 
the cochero cracking his whip, and encouraging 
his eight mules with shouts and exclamations. 

Among the passengers there were four sons of 
one of the richest men not only of Jalisco but of 
all Mexico, and in order to protect them the 
coach was accompanied by an escort of ten cavalry 
soldiers, wrapped in their ragged sampes. They 
were, however, so forlorn in their appearance that I 
reposed more confidence in our own arms, should 
occasion call for defence, than in the doubtful services 
which these men seemed capable of rendering. 

After leaving the city, the gardens and had- 



1 G6 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

endas of the suburbs, we traversed a flat country, 
here and there varied by slight undulations, 
and bordered on all sides by distant hills and 
mountains. Cacti, dwarf trees, and stubbly 
grass appeared to form the only vegetation. 
Five miles out of Guadalajara we reached 
the miserable town of San Pedro, composed 
mostly of rough adobe houses with thatched 
roofs, and during the ten miles following we 
passed through several wretched villages inhabited 
principally by Indians. There appeared to be 
little cultivation in this district, but herds of 
cattle were frequent. It is difficult to imagine 
on what the people of this locality rely for their 
subsistence ; the country seems so poor that it is 
a matter of surprise that the inhabitants do not 
remove to some more favoured spot. Yet in spite 
of all this apparent poverty a really downcast face 
is rarely discovered : the people are not used to 
luxuries, and frijoles and tortillas are everywhere 
amazingly cheap I 

Whenever the coach halted in a town or village 
the passengers were regularly besieged by an army 
of beggars, chiefly old women, and a crowd 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 1G7 

of cripples defying imagination. A more hideous 
and utterly disgusting sight is incredible, and each 
fresh parade of their infirmities, each grip of the 
listener's coat, excited a corresponding shudder. 
It is, I am told, inclination rather than necessity 
that prompts these unfortunate wretches thus to 
beleaguer diligence travellers. 

For the next fifteen miles the country was 
unaltered in its features, and after crossing a small 
stream we entered upon a strip of rich land. Here 
the soil seemed favourable, partly stocked with crops 
of maize and other cereals, partly prepared for the 
reception of new seed. Fine tall trees of various 
growths, and an occasional plot of rich pastur- 
age, gave the locality a most pleasing appearance, 
and contrasted agreeably with the tame scenery 
through which we had just travelled. Brakes and 
bushes densely overarched the road, with out- 
stretched branches ; and whenever the cochero, 
to avoid some obstacle, steered near its edge, 
the coach would brush by them, causing a rattle 
as of volley-firing, and rendering a look-out a 
most hazardous proceeding. 

This change in the nature of the land was due 



168 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

to the vicinity of a large river, known in Guada- 
lajara as the Rio Grande, which we were now 
fast approaching. This river, one of the largest, 
and perhaps the most important in Mexico, 
rises from the Lago de Lerma, a small lake 
about twenty-five miles south-west of the city 
of Mexico, and flows for 600 miles in a 
north-westerly direction towards the Pacific, which 
it reaches about twenty miles north of San 
Bias. 

After the first 325 miles of its course, the river 
falls into the Lago de Chapala, a large sheet of 
water covering about 520 square miles, and situate 
thirty-three miles south-south-east from Guadala- 
jara. The river, which from its source to its influx 
into the lake is called Rio de Lerma, enters 
it at its north-eastern side, and emerges from it 
barely fifteen miles to the northward. The lake 
would thus appear to form a huge backwater of 
the river, and acts as a never-failing reservoir, 
supplying the stream with an abundance of water 
during all seasons. From the Lago de Chapala 
to the sea, a distance of 270 miles, the river is known 
by the name of Kio de Santiago, with the exception 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 169 

of the district of Guadalajara, where it is simply 
called Rio Grande/' 

The valley of this stream, along the greater part 
of its course, is composed of bottom lands of the 
greatest fertility, and adapted for crops of the 
most varied description. At times the valley is 
thirty miles wide ; at others, where the river winds 
its course through hills and mountains, and barran- 
cas, it is necessarily narrow, but on an average it 
possesses a width of about fifteen miles, which, 
added to a length of about 600, forms a very 
considerable and the most productive area in the 
tierra templada. The wheat and barleyf grown 
here are of very superior quality, and said to be 
the best in the Republic. 

The land in this splendid valley, although divided 
into ranchos, and in the most favourable spots, 
graced with a fair number of hacienda-buildings, is 
comparatively little cultivated. If, however, means 
of transport were at hand to convey the surplus 
grain either west to the Pacific, or east to the 

* The native name of the river is Esquitlan. 

t Barley is not only grown in Mexico for purposes of brewing, but 
chiefly for fodder for horses and mules, being much preferred to oats, 
which latter are scarcely, if ever, cultivated. 



170 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Gulf, it could be made to yield perhaps ten times 
as much as it does at present, and would be able to 
compete with similar produce from Chili, California, 
and other parts of the United States. 

About an hour after we entered the valley we 
reached the river, a fine stream with a slow current, 
and at this spot about 150 yards wide. It is spanned 
by an old but very substantial bridge, the work of 
the Spaniards more than a century and a half ago, 
and called Puente National cle Tololotlan after the 
name of the small town at its eastern" end.* This 
bridge heralds a series of narrow valleys and 
barrancas through which the river flows after 
leaving this point for a distance of about 120 miles. 
Some of these barrancas are described as most 
beautiful and picturesque, but I was, unfortunately, 
unable to visit them, as well as the celebrated 
waterfall of Juanacatlan in the vicinity of the village 



* The Puente de Tololotlan was commenced in 1700, and finished in 
1717. It is, including the approaches, about two hundred yards long, 
twenty-six feet wide, and supported by twenty-seven pillars forming 
twenty-six arches. The "bridge possesses a few statues, inscriptions and 
other ornamentations, now all in a state of utter dilapidation, and on the 
Tololotlan side it is provided with a gate, which formerly closed the 
passage at night. 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 171 

bearing the same name, and ten miles above the 
Bridge of Tololotlan. 

The Rio Grande, at that point 180 yards wide, 
thunders over a precipice sixty-five feet deep, in a 
most magnificent waterfall. 

A short drive from the river brought us to a 
hacienda, where we breakfasted, and after another 
four miles we arrived at Zapotlanejo, a tumble- 
down place of about 6000 inhabitants. The 
same elements that compose all smaller Mexican 
towns — low adobe houses in straight, narrow streets, 
diabolical pavements, and a large, costly cathedral 
worth a dozen times the value of all its surroundings, 
were likewise to be found here. Zapotlanejo is 
situated on the edge of the valley of the Rio 
Grande, on a small tributary of the latter, and the 
country in its immediate neighbourhood appeared 
arable and fertile. 

From here the road slightly ascended, and we soon 
found ourselves again in the vast undulating land of 
the Mexican plateau, much less rich than the valley 
we had now left behind, and at times even arid. 

About three-quarters of an hour after turning our 
backs on Zapotlanejo, the diligence suddenly stopped, 



172 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

and looking out we could perceive two men on 
horseback speaking to the cochero, and presently 
approaching the door of the coach. Finding three 
revolvers pointed at them, however, they immediately 
became very civil, and smilingly informing us that 
they simply intended to perpetrate a joke, hurriedly 
wheeled round, and galloped away at full speed. If 
it had not been for our pistols we should probably 
have been relieved of some luggage. 

Another hour brought us to a narrow ravine with 
a small stream running at its base, spanned by a 
strong stone bridge called Puente de Calderon* 
after which the road wound over the same mono- 
tonous country for twenty miles, when we arrived at 
Tepatitlan, a town of about 8000 inhabitants, and in 
appearance the exact counterpart of its other and 
similarly sized brethren. 

A clown clad in red and yellow, with painted 
face, and large artificial nose, was parading the 
streets on horseback, accompanied by a trumpeter 
and followed by a crowd of children. Stopping 



* This bridge, constructed in 1807, is celebrated in the annals of the 
great revolution, by the battle fought there on January 17th, 1811, 
between the Spanish General Calleja and the Mexican patriot Hidalgo. 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 173 

at every corner, he proceeded to proclaim in a 
loud tone the unparalleled fighting qualities of two 
bulls, which were to be "Done to the death" on 
the morrow. He finished his harangue with a little 
joke, immensely appreciated by his youthful audience, 
who could not contain themselves for laughter. 

The clown was just commencing a repetition of 
his story in front of the fonda, where the coach 
had halted to change mules, when the vamanos of 
the driver invited us to proceed. Off we went in 
jumps and jerks, over the murderous stones of 
the Tepatitlan streets, and ascending a low hill 
continued our journey over a road which, as usual, 
was merely a perforated bog, with its inter- 
mediate spaces strewn with rocks. How it came 
to pass that we did not upset has remained a 
mystery to this day, for the coach was swaying 
to and fro like a small boat in a cross sea. 

The twenty-one miles from Tepatitlan to La Venta 
de Pegueros led over a tract of country more stern 
and barren than any part of Mexico I had as 
yet seen. It forms a vast plain, hemmed in the 
far distance by mountains just peering over the hori- 
zon, now hilly, and now rising up abruptly to an 



174 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

inconsiderable height. The soil is composed of a 
yellowish-brown sand, at times thickly strewn with 
boulders and stones, and seemingly fit for no other 
produce but a few crippled cacti. Luckily some rain 
that had fallen a few days previously had hardened 
the ground, otherwise the dust we should have had 
to encounter, and of which we had some sad 
experience subsequently, would have been terrific. 

At last, after thirteen hours' continuous shaking, I 
was truly thankful to see the coach stop before the 
large hacienda-house at La Venta. We had started 
at 5 a.m., and arrived at 8.30 p.m., having travelled a 
distance of seventy-three miles. 

The house at which the diligencias stop, where 
the stage company have their office, and a few 
rooms are set apart for the accommodation of tra- 
vellers, is the chief building of the hacienda, La 
Venta de Pegueros being really nothing but the 
village formed by the houses belonging to this 
extensive estate, and the huts of its workpeople. 
Besides this large quadrangular building with the 
usual patio inside, the place is hardly anything 
but a collection of low adobe houses. 

New- Year's day, 1874, found me up at half-past 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 175 

two a.m., and an hour later inside the diligence, 
and under weigh. 

In lieu of a passenger who remained at La Venta, 
a very fat half-caste lady was seated in the coach, 
who was engaged from morning till night in inces- 
santly smoking cigarettes. This habit, so universal 
amongst the weaker sex of all stations in Mexico, 
was developed to perfection in the specimen which 
faced me, to my lasting advantage, throughout the 
day. 

We had barely quitted La Venta, when the coach 
stuck in a mud-pool, and all the passengers, but 
the corpulent senora, had to descend to lighten 
the vehicle. In the many violent attempts to 
extricate the diligence, some of the harness, at all 
times in a deplorable state of rottenness, was broken, 
causing altogether a delay of over an hour, during 
which time we had to wait in this veritable slough 
of despond, unable to stir to the right or the left. 
Our route, at first over a gentle incline, conducted 
us for about twelve miles across a flat country of 
a more fertile nature than that traversed the pre- 
vious day, till at a small town called Jalostotitlan 
we crossed a tributary of the Rio Verde, a river 



176 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

which rises in the State of Zacatacas and flows 
south into Lake Chapala. From here, for the next 
two or three miles, we toiled up hill after hill, over 
loose rocks and pedregales of awful formation, until 
we arrived at a plateau about 7500 feet above 
the level of the sea, and fully 1000 feet higher 
than the surrounding country. After eight miles 
of comparatively plain sailing the road suddenly 
commenced to descend, and looking ahead I found 
the country composed of glens and small bar- 
rancas, all parallel to one another, and at right 
angles to our route. Each range of hills, forming 
these gulleys, was lower than the preceding one : their 
sides were hidden by trees and shrubs, growing 
denser and taller as the altitude diminished ; and the 
rivulets in the valleys gleamed like silvery serpents 
as the bright sun shone on their spiral course. We 
now wound in and out through this labyrinth of 
obstacles, down steep inclines, up hills and across 
streamlets, until we reached a tolerably well-paved 
zig-zag road, that led down the last and steepest 
hills. One by one the lofty towers and steeples 
of San Juan de los Lagos came in view : the 
lower we came, the more their number increased, 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 177 

and at length passing over two solid stone bridges 
that span the two arms of the Rio ale Lagos (a 
tributary of the Rio Verde) , at 11 o'clock we entered 
the town. 

San Juan numbers about 8000 inhabitants, and is 
rather a cheerful little place. Its houses (the usual 
low, whitewashed ones) are here and there tattoed 
with a few wavering lines of red and green, and its 
small plaza is remarkably well kept, and deliciously 
inviting. An enormous cathedral, with a magnificent 
facade, and a long flight of broad stairs as its 
approach, as well as twin-towers of exquisite taste 
and considerable height, stands proudly out from the 
other buildings like a man-of-war in the midst of 
a crowd of row-boats. The interior is majestic 
and imposing, and, as far • as architecture is con- 
cerned, a masterpiece of the art ; but when the 
spectator reflects that thousands and thousands 
must have been wrung from, the wretched popula- 
tion to construct this edifice, that the people have 
had to undergo privations, to toil and to suffer, 
before this priestly stronghold could be called into 
existence, the philanthropist would, I presume, rather 
behold superior dwellings, greater comfort, and 

M 



178 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

less ignorance amongst the laity, than all this 
clerical splendour. It was on New- Year's day that I 
visited this church ; its steps and interior were 
thronged with worshippers, mostly Indians, who with 
a burning candle in hand would drop on their knees 
at the door, and thus crawl up to the image or pic- 
ture of the saint for whom the taper was destined, 
depositing, each of them, their ill-spared mite in the 
ever-present offertory. 

San Juan de los Lagos is celebrated for the fair 
which is held there annually at the commencement 
of December, and which is the most frequented in- 
stitution of the kind in all Mexico. This fair 
owes its origin to a most sacred shrine, containing 
an image of the Virgin known by the name of 
Nuestra Senora de San Juan de los Lagos. As 
early as 1623 this shrine attracted a multitude of 
pilgrims, chiefly in the first days of December, the 
eighth of that month being the feast-day of the 
Virgin. The pilgrims naturally brought a large 
number of traders to San Juan, and to legalise 
the annual congregation of so large a body of mer- 
chants, King Charles the Fourth of Spain, in 1797, 
granted a concession for a yearly fair, which was 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 179 

afterwards confirmed by the Government of the 
State of Jalisco. 

After two hours' halt we proceeded on our jour- 
ney, and, ascending anew, in a few miles arrived 
on a plateau about 7000 feet above sea-level, and 
thus 1000 feet above the altitude of San Juan. 
For the next twenty miles we travelled over this 
table-land, mostly undulating, and sprinkled all 
the way with a large number of haciendas, and 
villages of various sizes. The country appears the 
reverse of sterile, but is only partially utilised; maize, 
wheat, barley, and beans are the principal products. 

In all the villages I noticed neatly and peculiarly 
constructed fences of the organo cactus. Instead 
of the stone or wooden fences, hitherto prevalent, 
the long straight arms of the organos are here 
lopped off from their parent, and driven into the 
ground so close to one another as to leave no 
perceptible space between them. These pieces 
quickly take root and grow to a height of more 
than twenty feet, and as they are from two to six 
inches in diameter, it may be imagined that they 
form a strong and suitable protection. Near the 
villages and haciendas, and sometimes along the 



180 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

roads, various trees were worthy of remark, amongst 
which mezquites and tamarinds predominated. 

As we approached Lagos, numerous species of 
cacti became abundant, especially nqpales, which 
extended over acre upon acre, and seemed almost 
to have been purposely planted. 

The situation of Lagos is much like that of 
San Juan, in a deep valley traversed by the Rio de 
Lagos, and at least 800 feet below the plateau which 
we had just traversed. The town was perfectly con- 
cealed from the view until the circuitous descent 
was commenced, when it gradually emerged. 

It was five o'clock when we entered the town and 
halted before the fonda, distinguished for the usual 
execrable accommodation, where I had to share a 
small room without a window with two other pas- 
sengers. One of these was a Diputado (Member of 
Congress), a man of superior intelligence, and to 
whom I am indebted for much valuable information. 
My gratitude, however, did not prejudice me so 
much in his favour, as to prevent me from noticing 
the alarming fact, that not once since our departure 
from Guadalajara until we started from Lagos, a 
space of two days and two nights, did this amiable 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 181 

legislator think it necessary to apply soap and 
water, either to hands or face, and that he cherished 
an additional predilection for sleeping clothed in 
all his habiliments, excepting only his boots. 

Lagos is a gay and pleasing town, with a 
pattern plaza, a shady paseo along the Rio, and 
a charming alameda with fine orange and lemon 
trees, and numberless white rose bushes, which were 
all in full blossom when I walked through. The 
town has an elevation of 6300 feet above sea-level, 
and over 15,000 inhabitants, mostly engaged in 
agriculture. 

There is a very extensive flour-mill near the 
alameda which we visited. The wheat employed 
is all grown in the immediate vicinity of the 
town, and the motive-power is supplied by water, 
tapped from the Eio de Lagos, and led over an enor- 
mous waterwheel said to be sixty feet in diameter. 
The cathedral at Lagos is rather smaller than that 
at San Juan, and less costly in its structure and 
ornaments. It is nevertheless sufficiently large for 
a town ten times the size of Lagos, especially as 
there are at least eight other churches to keep it 
company. The population of this entire district 



182 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

have the reputation of being as bigoted and fana- 
tical as they are poor and ignorant. 

Lagos is the junction of the diligence route to 
Durango and the north generally, with that from 
Guadalajara to" the capital. When we started 
the morning after our arrival, a coach proceeded 
northward at the same time as our own started 
for the east, carrying with it the Diputado just 
mentioned, who intended paying a visit to his 
constituency. The diligencias from this place 
eastward are more roomy than those from Guada- 
lajara to Lagos, accommodating twelve passengers 
inside instead of nine, although the increase in 
size is in no way proportionate to the augmented 
number of sitters. 

At five o'clock a.m. we were off. Crossing 
the Eio de Lagos on a good stone bridge, we 
proceeded on a somewhat less barbarous road lined 
on both sides with splendid specimens of the Arbol 
del Peru (S chinas Molle), which here so much 
resembled weeping willows, that I at first mistook 
them for the latter. 

The road for some distance followed the course 
of the river, and then turning off in an easterly 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 183 

direction, wound its way through a network of 
small lakes, which appeared right and left, and 
whose existence may have given its name to the 
town. The country was highly cultivated, and 
maize, wheat, barley, beans, filled the fields 
within three to four miles from the town. Later 
on less care appeared to be bestowed on the 
land; haciendas became scarcer, and the ranches 
were only under partial cultivation, although the 
soil seemed to repay the husbandman. 

A journey of twenty miles brought us to the 
border of Jalisco, and we now entered the State 
of Guanajuato, reputed to be one of the best 
governed in the Eepublic. 

Two miles further took us to the top of a low 
range of hills, outposts of the Sierra de Comanja, 
whose rugged ridges bordered the north-eastern 
horizon, and then we descended into the splendid 
plain for which the city of Leon is celebrated. 
For the next eight miles we drove through this 
fertile and well-tilled plateau, over roads compara- 
tively smooth, and past the signs of industry and 
habitation. 

At ten o'clock we caught our first glimpse of 



184 A PEEP A 7 MEXICO. 

the dingy streets of the narrow suburbs, and 
reaching the town proper soon halted before a 
spacious building, the hotel (as it is here termed 
to distinguish it from the usual fondas) of the 
diligencias. 

I had unfortunately not intended to make a 
stay at this remarkable place, but from what I 
could see of it in the brief interval between the 
arrival and the departure of the coach, it impressed 
me with the idea of being one of the most thriv- 
ing towns in Mexico. It is laid out in the 
customary manner : straight streets, meeting at 
right angles, and paved with round pebbles. Its 
houses are larger, and of architecture superior to 
those of Guadalajara. They all appeared old, 
some ruinous, others repaired, and owe their 
origin, no doubt, to the energy of the old Span- 
iards. The present occupants confine themselves 
to painting the outsides and warding off utter 
decay from their ancestral inheritance, but not a 
new building or any modern improvement is to 
be seen. In spite of their thus living on the 
enterprise of bygone generations, the inhabitants 
of Leon show more activity than most citizens of 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 185 

other places, who in the majority of cases will not 
raise a hand to prevent the annihilation of these 
old and splendid buildings. Three and four-storied 
houses are common in Leon, some of which, from 
their grand proportions, doubtless formed palaces 
in times gone b) r , when the city was a centre of 
the old Spanish colonists. A cathedral, rather 
insignificant for the size of the town, and a 
crowd of minor churches, distributed over the 
place, are, as everywhere else, also to be found 
here, and a well-tended and spacious plaza, 
enclosed by an ornamental iron railing with the 
ordinary accompaniments of seats, fountain, and 
trees, is not missing. Facing the plaza stands the 
imposing palacio, and its other sides are graced 
with portales, crowded with the usual frequenters 
of these shady walks. Dulce and agua fresca 
vendors, hawkers of sarapes and rebozos, confec- 
tionary stall-keepers, fruit-sellers, and a motley 
multitude of vagabonds and beggars, crowded the 
environs of the hotel, and variegated the curious 
scene. 

Leon, or Leon de los Aldamas, in regard to 
population ranks second only to the city of Mexico, 



186 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

being estimated as numbering about 100,000 
inhabitants, including some outlying villages be- 
longing to the municipality. It is situate in the 
same altitude as Lagos, about 6300 feet above 
the level of the sea, and is thus blest with 
the most agreeable climate of the tierra templada. 
In spite of its size, it is not the seat of the State 
Government, that privilege belonging to the city 
of Guanajuato, owing no doubt to its more central 
position. To this absence of official life is to be 
attributed the plebeian character of its population, 
which is principally composed of artisans and 
tradesmen. Leon is the supplier of many manu- 
factures, superior in their way to any other in 
the Eepublic. Thus it is renowned for the best 
Mexican saddles, and saddlery in general, the 
most superior spurs, and other metal-work; also 
for its sarapes, and woollen and cotton fabrics. 

Leaving Leon we continued our route in a 
south-easterly direction towards Silao, distant 
twenty-eight miles. The country as a whole is 
flat, and at times only slightly undulating. It 
appears fertile, while its loneliness is at times 
mitigated by haciendas, villages, and small towns. 



FROM GUADALAJARA TO GUANAJUATO. 187 

The roads excel those of the State of Jalisco, 
and are frequently bordered by prickly-pear cacti, 
or neat or^ano-fences. 

We reached Silao at three o'clock, and after a 
few minutes' delay to change mules resumed our 
journey. As we drove through, I found it to 
be an old and rather dirty place of the cus- 
tomary type, with nothing to arrest attention. 

About four miles away from Silao (the direction 
of the road being east by north) the aspect of 
the country gradually changed, and we entered 
a mountainous district, of partially rocky forma- 
tion, split into gorges and numerous ravines. "We 
were making straight for the Sierra de Comanja, 
in a valley of which the city of Guanajuato, 
our destination, lies. Up laboured the mules, over 
rocks and stones, to the summit of an eminence, 
immediately afterwards descending into a deep 
gully, only to recommence ascending still deeper 
inclines as we proceeded. This repeated itself over 
a distance of six miles, when we entered a narrow 
valley, and drove along the dry portions of the 
bed of a stream called Canada de Marjil. 
Crossing and recrossing the turbid waters of 



183 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

the sinuous rivulet, we travelled over its sandy 
bed for about a mile, and arrived at one of the 
suburbs, Marfil, built on both sides of the banks, 
which here towered at least fifty feet above the 
stream. Huge stone walls coated the precipitous 
sides of the ravine, from the top of which the back 
portions of the squalid habitations stared in all their 
hideous filth. The muddy nature of the river was 
caused by the mining processes for which the 
water is used higher up, and in these suburbs 
lived the miners, of whom the greater part of the 
city's population is composed. Further up, a part 
of the dry river-bed was used for the manufacture 
of adobe, for which the soil seems peculiarly fitted, 
and when we had arrived within a mile of the 
town, we already perceived large numbers of work- 
men engaged in constructing a wide road along 
the valley, by dividing its bed and damming up a 
portion of the stream. I noticed a number of 
convicts employed in this work, chained in couples, 
and guarded by soldiers. Still nearer the city we 
entered the completed part of this exceptional road, 
and finally, at five o'clock, halted before the Hotel 
de las Diligencias. 



CHAPTER VIII 



GUANAJUATO. 



From bad to good — Site of Guanajuato — Jardin de la Union — New 
theatre — Superior administration — Foreign residents — Fine coun- 
try houses— Loza — The presets — El Cantador — A Sunday afternoon 
there — Riders — Mineral wealth — La Valenciana mine — A pestilen- 
tial road — A valuable village — A monster shaft — Mining opera- 
tions — Other mines — Yield of precious metals — Gonductas — The 
Castillo de Granaditas — Trajes del pais — Silver figures — Situa- 
tion of Guanajuato. 

Appearances frequently prove treacherous, and so 
it was with this pretentious hotel. A four-storied 
massive building, with a porte-cochere opening into 
the inner yard, and galleries running along every 
floor of the building, much in the style of old- 
fashioned English inns, led us to expect great things. 
AVe were, however, woefully disappointed. A room 
on the third floor, ten feet square, with its only 
window opening into the narrow yard, was all the 
accommodation my Austrian travelling companion 
and myself could obtain, in spite of remonstrances 



190 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

and polite entreaties. The stifling atmosphere of this 
stable was awful, and the table-dliote too dreadful 
for description. Our delight may consequently be 
imagined when next day, on presentation of our 
introductory letters, Messrs M. and Company, the 
leading firm in the city, most hospitably asked us 
to take up our quarters in their large and luxurious 
house in the plaza. And now commenced a time 
of real enjoyment, an episode of more instructive 
interest than I experienced anywhere else in the 
Republic. 

Guanajuato is a wonderful place, and unlike any 
other city I saw in Mexico. It reminded me vividly 
of the towns of old Spain, both as regards its archi- 
tecture and the quaint animation in its crooked 
streets. 

The city marks the spot where three narrow 
mountain gorges meet and unite. It is built on 
the steep slopes of these three glens, the chief 
portion of the town surrounding the confluence of 
the streams. Its streets are necessarily curved 
and narrow ; those running parallel with the 
streams are tolerably level, whilst those which are 
built at right angles to them are naturally hilly, as 



GUANAJUATO. 191 



they are but the steeps of the gulches. All parts 
of the town are thus amphitheatrically constructed, 
and extensive views of the different quarters are 
easily obtained, either by looking up from below, 
or taking a commanding position in one of the 
uppermost thoroughfares. 

The town itself is due to the remarkable mineral 
wealth of the mountains in its immediate vicinity, 
and was erected by the Spaniards very shortly after 
the conquest. There being a scarcity of good build- 
ing sites, the houses on comparatively level ground 
were constructed to a height of four and five 
stories, whilst those placed on the sloping parts 
were kept within the limits of from two to three 
floors. Thus the lower and better quarters of Guana- 
juato closely resemble the streets of Spanish towns, 
whilst the steep alleys up the hills are not 
unlike the vicoli that run right and left into the 
Via di Toledo at Naples. To eyes grown weary- 
by the unceasing repetition of straight streets lined 
with low and monotonous houses, this thorough 
change was a most delightful surprise. But this 
was not all. From morning till night the streets 
were astir with an ever-moving, ever-shifting crowd : 



192 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

miners in their white loose costume coming for 
the purchase of provisions, Indians from the neigh- 
bourhood carrying their produce to market, arrieros 
driving trains of pack -mules, carboneros with heavy 
burdens of charcoal strapped on their backs, 
itinerant hawkers of agua fresca, dnlces and con- 
fectionery, were constantly mingling with the usual 
traffic. At no time during the day, and not even 
during the greater part of the night, were the 
streets empty, and nowhere in Mexico did I 
observe sights more suggestive in colouring and 
character for the author or the artist, not even in 
the animated capital itself. 

My host's house was in the plaza here called 
Jar din de la Union, and from the balcony I was 
never tired of watching the tide of life below. 

This plaza is smaller than any other I had as 
yet seen, owing to the scarcity of level ground, and 
its shape is triangular. But the citizens had 
made the most of the limited space, and a more 
elegantly-arranged park of equal dimensions can- 
not be conceived. The shrubs and flowers are 
choice, the fountain musical, while the pink-painted 
benches are more graceful than the seats of other 



GUANAJUATO. 193 



plazas. Here, too, are tall lamp-posts which (on the 
" lucus a non lucendo " principle) are destitute of 
oil appliances; and as gas does not exist, evidently 
intended for ornament only. This loss of illumina- 
tion, however, was fully remedied by the glittering 
crowd of loiterers who assembled to breathe the 
evening air, and hear the military band. 

Two sides of the 'plaza are taken up by large 
private houses, tastefully and luxuriously constructed, 
whilst along the third side is an ancient church, 
with a most noteworthy facade, sculptured in 
the overloaded and florid style of the Eenaissance. 
Next to the church a new theatre is in course of 
erection ; necessarily small, it promises to be a 
model of its kind, if the few arches and pillars 
at present standing may be taken as a criterion, and 
unlike its sister building at Guadalajara, will be 
completed within a year, to judge from the manner 
in which the work was progressing when I saw it. 

It must be evident to the most cursory observer 
that more public spirit and better administration 
exist here than in any of the towns or states hitherto 
mentioned. To this the new road, the activity dis- 
played in the constitution of the theatre, the numbers 

N 



194 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

of houses in course of erection to replace the old 
ones, the neatness of public walks and squares, the 
cleanliness and martial bearing of the military, and 
many other characteristics, bore eloquent witness. 
All this is due, in great measure, to the excellent 
governor of the State, General Antillon, who for 
many years has been at the head of affairs, and 
who, unlike the majority of state officials, does not 
owe his position to guerilla or brigand exploits. 
The General is descended from an old Castillian 
family, and by his wise administration, and rigorous 
execution of the laws, has not only succeeded better 
than any other governor in thinning the herds of 
brigands, but also in establishing a less corrupt 
system of finance. The roads in the State of Gua- 
najuato are thus almost the safest in all Mexico ; 
and the public exchequer directed into its proper 
channels, has effected improvements and introduced 
a general atmosphere of wealth, all the more gratify- 
ing because absent in other parts of the Eepublic. 

There is a larger contingent of foreigners in 
Guanajuato than in the more westward towns. In 
point of numbers the Germans greatly preponderate, 
and monopolise the commerce of the town. The 



GUANAJUATO. 195 



largest mercantile firms are owned by Teutons, 
and they also are the representatives of various 
trades. An English Mining Company, as well as 
the English direction of the Mint,* have attracted 
a fair number of Englishmen to the city ; there is 
also a goodly array of Frenchmen, mostly devoted 
to the honourable and useful occupations of hair- 
dressing and conf.serie, whilst of North Americans 
there are but few. 

One afternoon our kind hosts drove us up the 
banks of the chief Canada towards the great reser- 
voirs which supply the city with water. After 
lurching along the exceedingly rough pavement of 
several winding streets, we entered upon a wide 
road, which continued the entire distance of the 
drive (over two miles), along the margin of the gulch. 
This road, which is one of the favourite drives 
of the people of Guanajuato, was constructed by the 
same company which instituted the reservoirs, and 
is lined the entire distance with stone-benches of 
the usual type, and plentifully supplied with shady 



* By act of the Mexican Congress the English company were 
paid an indemnity on the 1st March 1574, and the Government 
undertook the working of the Mint. 



196 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

trees. A short distance outside the town there 
were country houses of a singular kind. They were 
so far in advance of anything I had seen in the 
country, that I could scarcely trust my eyes. 
Following no single style, every individual owner 
seemed to have employed a different architect to 
design the plan of his residence, and almost every 
idea appears to have been artistically conceived 
and admirably executed. How far foreign or native 
skill is to be credited with these buildings I know 
not, but the result, to my mind, is most thoroughly 
successful and highly attractive. Some of the 
villas are constructed in the fashion so frequent in 
Southern Italy — a plain, airy building, with many 
windows, and a verandah on the ground floor, the 
outside walls gaily daubed with pink and green, and 
overgrown with vines and creepers ; others are more 
pretentious, and erected entirely of stone. They 
are approached by pillared porticoes, finely sculptured 
and bright with statues arranged in numerous 
niches. All these houses stand in delightful gar- 
dens, distinguished by the variety and perfection 
which belong to this splendid climate. 

The stone principally used for these buildings, as 



GUANAJUATO. 197 



well as for many in the town, is a peculiar 
sandstone called loza, which is found in a moun- 
tain called La Buff a, situated on the right side of 
the road on which we were chiving, and towering 
above all neighbouring ridges with the bold, per- 
pendicular rock which crowns its summit. This 
sandstone is of the finest grain, and its customary 
colour — a delicate pale green — is interlined with thin 
bands of brown, pale blue, and darker shades of 
green. The theatre above mentioned is being built 
of this stone, which imparts a peculiar beauty to 
the columns which it forms. 

About two miles away from the town the reser- 
voirs, called presas, were reached. They are con- 
structed by two huge dams of masonry placed across 
the entire Canada, thus forming two extensive 
basins. The lower of these dams serves the purposes 
of a bridge, and is wide enough for carriages, whilst 
the upper only admits of pedestrians. These 
dams are of pleasing design, and unlike similar 
arrangements at home, conduce to the enhancement 
of the landscape. They are, like the road, provided 
with benches, and are much used by Guanajua- 
toans as pleasant resting-places in the evening. 



198 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

The lower part of the dams contain the flood-gates, 
which are closed towards the end of the rainy season, 
to retain the waters of the stream for use during 
the dry months. The upper presa is like a small 
natural lake. Enclosed on all sides, but that of 
the dam, by precipitous and rocky hills, the placid 
waters of the gulch in their enforced captivity 
look most romantic, reflecting rocks and foliage 
with the distinctness of a mirror. 

The water obtained from these reservoirs is 
considered very wholesome, though its appearance 
is prejudicial. It contains a strong admixture 
of sand and mud, which natives do not seem 
to mind, but which foreigners easily remove by 
a filter. The people are either too lazy or 
too ill - informed to employ the same means. 
When travelling we had everywhere to drink 
the grayish-blue liquid, which, in the face of a 
hundred protestations as to its sanitary qualities, 
was only drinkable through sheer necessity. This 
grayish-blue colour is by far more repulsive than 
the pale brown of the water in the creeks of the 
North American prairies. 

The Alameda in Guanajuato is a fine public 



GUANAJUATO. 199 



garden, and on afternoons, especially of Sundays 
and Saints' -days, the rendezvous of all the 
beauty and fashion of the city. This small park, 
here called El Cantador, beautifies a densely 
populated part of the town, and is entirely sur- 
rounded by mediocre houses. It forms a square 
of about 150 yards each way, is enclosed by a low 
stone wall and laid out in broad walks, capitally 
disposed and kept. In addition to the foliage so 
often before described, rise the tall mimosas, and 
vases and kiosks vary the horticultural charms. 

On the Sunday afternoon of my visit the 
Cantador was literally crowded. Carriage succeeded 
carriage, and after driving round the outside 
road they would stop at one of the gates, where 
their proprietors descended to enter the garden. 

A large number of equestrians were engaged 
either in riding round, or taking their* stand in 
a line near the principal gate, and would watch the 
senoritas enter and leave the park. 

There was a much more of European colour- 
ing about this scene than I had found further 
west. The carriages were superior, betraying 
their recent importation either from the " States," 



200 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

or Europe ; and although at times huge knobs 
of decorative brass, and blotches of showy paint- 
ing, would betray a lingering taste for barbarous 
pomp, they were, on the whole, as good a collection 
as is the average in interior North American 
towns. 

Here for the first time in Mexico I saw the big 
American horses, all the larger because contrasting 
with their small native cousins. It is considered 
the height of fashion to be able to harness a 
pair of these animals to the carriage, and the 
"belles" which it contains are regarded with 
no little envy by their sisters who have to sub- 
mit to the less elegant stride of little Mexican 
steeds, or a pair of plebeian mules. The riders 
form a mixture of Mexican cavalleros in charro, 
and horsemen, both foreign and native, in 
breeches and boots. Without being able to assi- 
milate the qualities of the European, the Mexican 
delights to ape him in dress. The charro is 
thus fast disappearing, and the nearer the 
capital, where European influence is most powerful, 
the scarcer is the national costume. 

The foreigners on their horses and English 



GUANAJUATO. 201 

saddles, in riding trousers and boots, appeared 
natural enough, but not so the darker-skinned 
Mexicans, who, when on English saddles and mounted 
on American horses, are the most incongruous 
spectacles. Used from their youth to the Mexican 
saddle, on which a firm grip is all but unnecessary, 
and where a tolerably secure seat is inevitable, 
the bare, flat English substitute affords them no 
hold whatever, and their legs dangling to and 
fro in the most alarming manner, emphatically evi- 
denced the agonies of these "fish out of water." 
If they only knew what pitiable figures they pre- 
sent when thus trying to mimic foreign habits, 
they would remain constant to their own spirited 
ponies and easy saddles, and be content with look- 
ing picturesque and feeling comfortable. 

Guanajuato owes its existence and its fame to 
the silver mines. To enumerate the names of all 
would take several pages, for there are considerably 
over a hundred, of various sizes and richness. 
Immediately after the conquest the Spaniards 
became acquainted with the wealth of this 
region. The first houses of the city were 
built in 1554, and in 1560 the great vein of silver 



202 A rEEP AT MEXICO. 

called Veta madre was discovered. It was not, 
however, until 1760 that this lode was properly 
worked, and it was then found that the mine called 
La Valenciana could yield by far the greatest 
wealth of all. It has been said — with what claim 
to truth I do not know — that for a number of 
years more silver was obtained from this mine 
than had ever been procured from any other in 
the world. Of late years, and until about twelve 
months ago, various circumstances had caused 
operations in the mine to cease, although it was 
well known that its stock of ore was by no means 
exhausted. A few years of idleness had filled 
the subterranean passages with water, the amount 
of which can only be calculated when it is 
known that these shafts and tunnels extend for 
miles. 

The matter appeared hopeless until a com- 
bination of the most powerful native and foreign 
merchants, the German Consul at their head, leased 
the property of Don Miguel Eul, the heir of the 
Perez Galvez family, its hereditary owners, and 
commenced work anew. Although the difficulty of 
removing the water will still occupy a considerable 



GUANAJUATO. 203 



time, this new company is already successful, and 
its hopes for the future are by no means feeble. 

To spare the valuable horses of our hosts, we 
hired an old carriage with a pair of mules to drive 
up to the mine, which is situate to the northward 
of the city. After a drive through the narrow 
town, we emerged on the banks of one of the 
three streams (the one that flows from the north), 
which directed our course for a short distance. This 
part of the city is occupied by the dregs of its 
inhabitants, and the dirt and degradation of their 
dwellings and surroundings is truly awful. The 
stream here is converted into a public sewer, and the 
odour with which the atmosphere was impregnated 
obliged us to substantially protect the approach to 
our smelling organs. Crossing the gulch over a high 
bridge we commenced a fearfully steep road, which 
led through one of the suburbs. Tired of the 
superfluous beating and stoning of the poor mules, 
we accomplished the distance on foot, and 
seating ourselves again at the top, drove along an 
almost level road, which skirts one of the heights 
at the back of the town. From here we obtained 
an extensive view of the city lying immediately 



204 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

beneath us, and its singular situation appeared as 
if drawn on a map. Distributed all over the 
mountains that surround the town, we descried num- 
bers of mining works resembling large ant-heaps 
in the distance, whilst droves of mules were car- 
rying heavy sacks of ore towards the refining 
works. A short drive brought us to the Yalen- 
ciana property, which does not consist of a single 
shaft and a few buildings, like the majority of 
the North American mines, but covers an area of 
considerable extent, and where there is a large 
village with an old church, and a number of enclo- 
sures— all possessing separate shafts and buildings of 
their own. The low houses of the village are mostly 
built of stones, in which lurk veins of silver that 
would prove very valuable in England, but which 
would not here repay abstraction. If in future a 
reduction of the export tax on silver, and cheaper 
" beneficiating " arrangements should supervene, this 
village will certainly be demolished to obtain the 
wealth of its building material. We entered the 
enclosure that contains the chief shaft, or tiro 
principal as it is called. Here not a little activity 
was displayed, in hauling up not ore, but large 



GUANAJUATO. 205 



buckets of water, so as to clear the works for 
future operations. As this great shaft is thirty 
feet in diameter, and over 2000 feet in depth, 
communicating with numberless tunnels of enor- 
mous length, it may be imagined that the task of 
emptying it is the reverse of easy. The process is 
an arrangement of half-a-dozen large leathern 
buckets * which are lowered in succession into 
the pit, and reach the top in the same order, dis- 
charging their contents over the side. 

The motive power is supplied by a small and 
very simple steam-engine, constructed in Man- 
chester, after the drawings of the young Mexican 
engineer who is in charge of the work, and who 
prefers this method to pumping. For the last ten 
months operations have been in full force day 
and night, and it is thought that two years more 
will be required until the subterranean passages 
are sufficiently emptied for the miners to extract 
the ore. An unforeseen difficulty was ex- 
perienced in using the water that was drawn 
up for the boilers of the engine. This, as indeed 

* The untanned leather is stretched over a framework of strong 
wire. 



206 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 



all water on the property, contains such a per- 
centage of different salts that its use was found 
detrimental, and thus all the requisite water 
has, during the dry season, to be fetched in 
barrels on mules' backs from a great distance, at 
a considerable cost. After inspecting the various 
appliances and workshops in this enclosure, we pro- 
ceeded some way through the straggling village, 
and arrived at another part of the mine, where 
numbers of operatives were employed on the ore 
brought from the depths of a similar shaft. 
This tiro had for some time past been pumped 
perfectly dry, and it was hence that all the pro- 
fits of the mine were at present derived. Blind- 
folded mules, harnessed to the end of a long pole 
and circling round, were winding up quantities 
of stone — mostly quartz — in which the rich metal 
is found. In a large open space men and 
boys were squatting before heaps of this stone, 
busied in all the various stages of reducing 
the large blocks into small fragments, and sorting 
the ore according to its richness. Hard by, 
in a huge shed, mules were turning a rude crush- 
ing-machine, in which the small pieces of stone 



GUANAJUATO. 207 



were refined to the consistency of sand, and in 
another part again the smelters were outbidding each 
other in the purchase of the ore, which is sold by 
a kind of auction. The scene was one of great 
industry and animation, and several hundreds of 
workpeople were employed in this enclosure alone. 

On our way homeward the various haciendas de 
beneficio (works where the silver is extracted from 
the ore), were pointed out to us, scattered over 
the bases of the hills containing the mines. The 
bullion, when separated from the stone, is exceed- 
ingly rich in silver, as only the very best ore is 
" beneficiated," and the mode of dividing the dross 
from the metal is through amalgamation with mer- 
cury. A great amount of the latter is thus con- 
stantly consumed, and the profits consequently much 
dependent on the price of quicksilver, which at the 
time of my visit was exceedingly high. There is 
also some gold to be found in nearly all the bullions, 
which is generally extracted by the Mint. 

Besides the Valenciana a great many other mines 
are prosperous at present ; amongst their number 
La Luz, La Joy a, Ray as, Mellado and La Sirena 
were specially mentioned. The English Mining 



208 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Company not have been very fortunate. Their pos- 
sessions, the San Cayetano, Buenos Ayres, and 
Ovejera mines are scarcely paying their expenses; 
but their chief mine, the Jesus y Maria, is latterly 
reported to have much improved. It is to be 
hoped that they too may share the bonanza which 
so large a number of the others are enjoying. 

There is a mine called Los Cedros, the ore of 
which is almost all embedded in. limestone. The 
fragments are stamped by the black imprints of a 
fern, such as is often found in similar formations. 
This fern, in its outlines, much resembles a minia- 
ture cedar, and it is uncertain whether the mine 
took its name from the fossils, or from the cir- 
cumstance that cedars formerly grew on the hill. 
There are, however, not a few Guanajuatoans who 
firmly believe that the imprints on the stones 
have been caused by the previous presence of the 
trees, of which, they say, the fossil ferns are 
the reduced images. 

The total value of precious metals yearly ex- 
ported from Guanajuato was named to me as 
amounting to about six millions of dollars. Of this 
sum five millions is converted into silver pesos 



GUANAJUATO. 209 

(Mexican dollars) by the Mint, half-a-million 
coined into gold by the same establishment, 
and the remaining half-million exported in bars 
and ore. On minted silver the Mexican Govern- 
ment now exact an export duty of five per 
cent. ; it used to be considerably more. 

Owing to the insecurity of the roads, the tran- 
sport of precious metal is attended with some 
ceremony and much precaution. The Government 
themselves undertake its conveyance for a certain 
charge or tax, and three times a year (until 
lately it was four times) they organise so-called 
concludes, — a convoy protected by from three 
to five hundred soldiers, according to the state 
of the country. In the dry season the coin 
is conveyed in waggons, and during the rains 
on mules, on account of the soft state of the 
ground. They travel in short, easy stages, taking- 
over a week to go from Guanajuato to the capital, 
a distance which the diligence performs in three 
days. 

Such a conducta was just preparing to start for 
the city of Mexico when I happened to be in Guana- 
juato ; all the merchants talked of nothing else, 

o 



210 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

and remained working till late in their offices to 
complete the necessary arrangements. Only once 
in the history of this institution has it happened 
that a conducta was robbed. In this instance, it 
is said that the Government themselves were in 
such urgent need of funds that they went through 
the farce of an attack on the convoy so as to 
secure the treasure. They, however, only consi- 
dered it as a forced loan, for some time afterwards 
all the owners were fully reimbursed. 

One of the most conspicuous buildings of the 
city is the Alhondiga de Granaditas, a square, 
massive edifice, with a, few small windows securely 
protected by close iron lattice-work. In spite of 
its ponderous character, it is pleasing in design, 
and possesses a finely- executed doorway. Alhondiga 
means granary, and that was the primary pur- 
pose of the building. Later on, however, in the 
wars of independence, it was employed as a fort, 
for which use it might seem almost to have been 
destined ; and many a fierce struggle is recorded 
between the Spaniards and the Nationalists, in the 
commencement of the present century, for the pos- 
session of this building. For Mexicans it has a 



GUANAJUATO. 211 

great historical significance as the spot where their 
great patriot Hidalgo met his death in 1811. After 
his defeat b) r General Calleja, he and the three other 
insurrectional chiefs, Gimenez, Aldama, and Allende, 
took refuge in the Alhondiga, but were captured 
and killed ; their heads were fixed on the four 
corners of the flat roof, where they remained for 
ten years, till in 1821, after the final destruc- 
tion of Spanish rule, they were removed. The iron 
hooks on which the heads were suspended exist to 
this day, and form the chief objects of interest in the 
Castillo de Granaditas, as it is now generally called. 

The plastic skill of the Indians in and near 
Guanajuato is exemplified by their traditionary 
accomplishment of moulding rags into figures illus- 
trative of the different costumes of the country 
— trajes del pais — exactly in the same manner as 
the clay figures of the Indians near Guadalajara, 
In spite of the less pliable nature of the rags, these 
images are fully equal to those of clay, and on 
account of their less fragile nature much preferable 
for packing purposes. 

Images and figures of a much superior kind, how- 
ever, are cast in Guanajuato from the soft silver- 



212 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

amalgam of the haciendas de beneficio. "When the 
silver ore has been crushed to powder, and the 
mercury applied to it, the outcome is an amalgam, 
which is a soft, pliable paste, in Spanish mining 
phraseology named lirnadora, from which statuettes 
of all kinds are easily shaped. Exposed to heat 
the mercury soon evaporates, leaving the image in 
very porous, but perfectly pure silver. The figures, 
as a rule, are coloured to resemble nature, by a 
clever process of enamel, and represent every phase 
of society from an arriero or a cdrbonero to a 
complete representation of a bull fight. 

The State of Guanajuato is the most densely 
populated department of the Mexican Eepublic. On 
an area of 12,170 square miles, it numbers 874,000 
inhabitants, thus possessing about 72 to the square 
mile, whilst the adjoining State of Queretaro, 
which ranks next in this respect, has only 52, and 
Jalisco only 14 to the square mile. The city of 
Guanajuato, situate in north latitude 21° 0' 50" and 
100° 54' 27" west longitude of Greenwich, at an 
elevation of 7200 feet above the level of the sea, 
numbers 63,500 inhabitants, including the population 
of the outlying villages of the mines. 



CHAPTER IX. 

FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 

Departure from Guanajuato — Irapuato — Improvement in the country 
— Salamanca — Celaya — Artificial irrigation — The plaza — Banos — 
Apaseo— Indian village — Enter the state of Queretaro — Arrival 
at the State capital — Superior hotel — Aspect of the town — Ita 
manufactures — Situation and population — A hard day — Questa 
China — An oasis in the desert — San Juan del Rio — Enter the 
State of Mexico— The watershed — Arrival at Tula — Our clerical 
fellow-passenger — Venta del Refugio — A sermon — Traffic on the 
road — Huehuetoca — A finely balanced coach — Cuautitlan — Wide 
and shady roads — Tlalnepantla— The valley of Mexico — Irriga- 
tion — Modern Aztecs — Approach the capital — Arrival in the city 
of Mexico. 

On leaving Guanajuato, at three a.m. on January 
6th, the diligence quitted the city on the same road 
along the bed of the Canada by which we had 
entered it, this being the only highway connecting 
the town with the road-system of the country. By 
the banks of the muddy stream, in the village 
Marfil, we were joined by half-a-dozen horsemen, 
who had been waiting the approach of the coach 
before their dingy low houses. They were the 



214 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

escort of the diligence, and in this instance not 
soldiers, but a private guard specially picked for 
the service. Arrived at the junction of the various 
roads with the Canada, the cochero chose that 
leading in a southerly direction towards Irapuato. 
After descending from the heights to the plateau, 
and leaving the hills behind, the country seemed 
promising as far as about ten miles from Guana- 
juato, when the usual irregular and partial cultiva- 
tion supervened, and the familiar stone fences and 
low ranclio buildings formed the only features of 
the landscape. The twenty-six miles, mostly down 
hill, to Irapuato were accomplished in four hours, 
and at seven o'clock we halted in the plaza of the 
latter town, a snug place of about 10,000 inhabi- 
tants. The exterior of the houses in the vicinity of 
the Despachio de las diligencias I found painted 
with tasteful and rather artistic patterns. Other- 
wise I could distinguish nothing of the town 
excepting the interior of a humble cafe, where 
we procured some capital chocolate and pan 
dulce whilst the team was being changed. 

Irapuato is about 6000 feet above sea-level, and it 
is here that the two routes from Guadalajara to 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 215 

the city of Mexico converge. The way which we 
travelled runs, with a few slight deviations, east- 
north-east from Guadalajara to Guanajuato, and 
thence south to Irapuato, whilst the other route 
leaves Guadalajara in a south-easterly direction until 
the Lago cle Chapala is reached, traverses that 
lake in a small steamer started by an American 
resident at Guadalajara, and from La Barca, at the 
eastern extremity of the Lago, runs north-east to 
Irapuato. 

Leaving the town we entered upon an elevated 
road, and crossed two rivers on stone bridges before 
we had proceeded two miles. About three miles 
below the bridges they unite, and ten miles further 
south fall into the Rio de Lerma. The more we 
approached Salamanca, our next halting-place, and 
eleven miles distant from Irapuato, the richer 
became the soil and the more numerous haciendas, 
ranches, and tilled fields. The influence of the Rio 
on the country was apparent in more than one 
way. In many places the land was already ripe 
for the sickle, whilst in others maize, wheat, 
and barley showed various stages of growth. 
The numerous villages looked clean and thrifty; 



216 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

the small plots of land belonging to each house 
or hut were neatly hedged with organos, and the 
roads shaded by mesquites (Prosopsis glandulosa) , 
arboles del Peru, and other trees. 

At half-past nine a.m. we reached Salamanca, a 
clean, straight-streeted town of the ordinary type. It 
contains about 8000 inhabitants, mostly engaged in 
the old-fashioned style of manufacturing mantas, 
sarapes, and rebozos. Indeed, this is said to be one 
of the first towns in Mexico which produced suffi- 
cient manta-cloth to supply other places after satis- 
fying its own demand. The large convent de 
los Agusbines, with a fine church attached, forms 
one of the most conspicuous buildings in the 
town. Appropriated, like all former possessions 
of the church, by the State, it has now been 
converted into a prison for both sexes, instead of, 
as formerly, for one. 

After partaking of almuerzo, and a walk round 
the pretty garden at the back of the fonda, we 
continued our journey. 

Salamanca is situated about five miles to the 
northward of a sharp bend of the Eio de Lerma, 
which flowing north to that point, from there 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 217 

turns to due west. At that bend it receives the 
waters of an important tributary, the Eio de la 
Laja, the course of which we followed for the rest 
of the day. 

The first few miles led us across a splendid plain, 
but as we proceeded eastward the soil seemed less 
fitted for agriculture, and after about eighteen miles 
became perfectly barren. Shortly afterwards we tra- 
versed a plain white with a thick deposit of teques- 
quite, which continued until we had approached 
within two miles of our next halting-place, Celaya, 
where we arrived at one o'clock. 

Celaya is distant about twenty-five miles from 
Salamanca, and situated 6200 feet above the level 
of the* sea, in a tolerably fertile but naturally dry 
portion of the country. In order to render the 
neighbourhood productive, artificial irrigation has 
been resorted to, and all around the town the land 
is intersected by narrow canals and ditches, much 
like similar arrangements in Holland. These wide 
channels extend for a mile outside the town, and 
irrigate smaller ditches, in the adjoining fields. 
The latter appeared to be used as kitchen gardens, 
and were rich with every sort of vegetable, whilst 



i> 1 8 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

here and there luscious fruit glistened amid lofty 
branches. Men, women, and children were busy 
in these fields, in either gathering, planting, or 
watering, and there was altogether a charming air 
of homeliness about the whole scene. 

Celaya is a gay and cheery town, with remark- 
ably trim houses, all clean, and tastefully coloured 
on the outside. It was founded in 1570, under the 
name of Conception cle Celaya, and the original 
narrow and not very straight streets still remain 
intact, lending it a rather quaint aud venerable 
appearance. The town swarms with places of wor- 
ship. Besides a large cathedral, there are three 
other churches of enormous size, and more than 
half-a-dozen smaller ones — more than sufficient for 
the entire State of Guanajuato. Its population 
numbers about 25,000, engaged in the manufacture 
of harness and saddles and other articles of leather. 
Soap is made in large quantities, and many hands 
are employed in a woollen manufactory possessing 
a small steam-engine. 

Celaya has the prettiest plazd of all the pro- 
vincial towns through which I passed. The 
walks are quite artistically arranged in beds of 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 219 

eccentric shape and grouping. Indeed the arrange- 
ments of this square would have done credit to 
any gardener at home. In the centre of the rich 
plantations, there is a monument erected in remem- 
brance of the Independence of the Republic, 
formed by a column of white stone, rising from 
a fountain. 

Opposite the fonda where we stopped there 
is a bathing establishment, which is supplied with 
warm water from an Artesian well. The baths are 
practical as well as practicable. There are a series 
of private compartments, and a large public basin 
sufficiently deep for swimming purposes. The 
white -washed walls are gay with fresco paint- 
ings, more amusing than artistic, and represent 
two European gentlemen attired in the newest 
fashion in active conversation with a Mexican 
cavalier o robbed in cliarro. This magnificent 
specimen of native art is executed in life-size, and 
covers the entire wall. 

Kefreshed by a dip in the bano we resumed our 
journey, and after passing the gardens and green 
fields outside the town we crossed the Rio de la Laja 
on a compact stone bridge flanked by obelisks 



220 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

and columns. Our route led us on an elevated and 
partially paved road across stubbly land. Scarcity 
of water prevents a more extensive improvement 
of the soil, which is here only used for stock- 
farming. Horses, oxen, and pigs are bred in large 
numbers in this district, whence the States of 
Guanajuato and Queretaro draw their chief sup- 
plies. Whenever we came near a hacienda or 
a village, artificial irrigation was observable, and 
trees and crops were seen in the neighbouring gar- 
dens and fields. As we approached Apaseo, a small 
town ten miles from Celaya, a great portion of 
the country was planted with the maguey, which in 
the immediate vicinity of that town is replaced by 
well-watered fields of vegetables, interspersed with 
orange, lemon, and other fruit trees. After leaving 
Apaseo we continued over a loamy plain dotted 
with numerous haciendas and small villages, sur- 
rounded by well-irrigated fields, clumps of trees 
and little enclosures separated by organo fences. 
Fourteen miles further brought us to the border 
of the State of Queretaro, near which we changed 
mules for the last time before reaching the State capi- 
tal in a village of Indian huts. The inhabitants of 



FROM GUAXAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 221 

this pueblo were a race of natives perfectly different 
to any I had previously met. They appeared to be 
inferior in physique and intelligence to the Indios 
of the Pacific slope, and their huts were, unlike 
those of the latter, constructed in a most slovenly 
and fragile manner. 

Our first acquaintance with the State of Quere- 
taro was marked by the toils of a steep and for- 
midable pedregal, and the allurements of a terrible 
road fenced in by walls of broken lava, and nopales. 
The roads throughout the States of Guanajuato 
were much superior to any over which I passed in 
the rest of Mexico. In Queretaro, however, every- 
thing has the reputation of resembling the institutions 
of Jalisco ; thus bad roads and probable attacks 
from brigands were awaiting us. This fearful road, 
which was fortunately only three miles long, was 
literally lined with rude modern crosses, indicating 
the graves of the victims of lad roues with which 
this particular locality is said to abound. 

An hour more and we arrived at the top of the 
hill, from which we descried the city of Queretaro, 
most picturesquely situate on the summit of an- 
other hill rising from the splendid valley that 



222 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 



intervened, and commanded by a semicircle of 
heights in the background. There were still seven 
miles to the city, which took us an hour and a 
half to accomplish, although at first sight we 
imagined the distance to be much less. The road 
through the rich dell is lined with fine trees 
— arboles del Pent and mezquites — beyond which 
extends refreshing strips of cultivation. At last, 
at six o'clock, we entered the straight streets of 
Queretaro and halted at the Hotel de las 
Diligencias, having travelled over 90 miles since 
the morning. 

The kotel was an agreeable surprise, and by far 
the best I had as yet visited in Mexico. It is a fine 
building, well proportioned, and three storeys high, 
with a large patio, and easy, wide nights of stairs 
leading to the upper galleries. The rooms are well- 
appointed and remarkably clean ; this, coupled with 
good attendance and superior cuisine, reminded me 
almost of European or North American comforts. 

Queretaro, since the fall of Maximilian's empire, 
and the death of that unfortunate prince on the 
Cerro de las Campanas, a hill in the immediate 
vicinity of the city, has acquired a memorial 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 223 

fame, and the circumstances connected with that 
event, as well as the general features of the town, 
have been repeatedly and minutely described. 
Apart, however, from the melancholy end of the 
emperor, the Ceiro de las Campanas does not 
deserve the most cursory inspection ; and when 
the fact of Maximilian's imprisonment in the con- 
vent of Los Capuchinos is disassociated from the 
building, it is not more interesting to gaze upon 
than any ordinary edifice of the same kind. 

The narrow streets of the city look gloomy ; the 
comparatively lofty houses, with their quaintly- 
barred windows, stone balconies, and clumsy wooden 
doors in the portes-cocheres, possess an ancient and 
sombre appearance ; which, added to the melancholy 
and monotonous tolling of the unharmonious bells 
of twenty-five churches, imparts to Quere'taro more 
of mediaeval seclusion and strangeness than I had 
yet noticed. Some of the footpaths are paved with 
a pink kind of sandstone called loza, like its light- 
green relative at Guanajuato ; but the pink species 
is not so pretty, and cannot so well resist the on- 
slaught of the weather, changing its colour to an 
ugly ash-gray after a short exposure. There are 



224 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

considerable quantities of this stone in the 
quarries near the city. 

The town is supplied with water by an aqueduct, 
which brings it from the surrounding heights, and 
which forms a conspicuous object in the landscape 
of the country. 

The inhabitants are largely engaged in the manu- 
facture of soap and cigars, the latter from tobacco 
grown in the neighbourhood ; they also brew a 
considerable quantity of pulque for home con- 
sumption. But its chief claim to the appellation 
of manufacturing town is owing to the cotton 
factories belonging to the Eubbio family. The 
one called Hercules is by far the most important 
of the two, and has the reputation of being the 
largest in the entire Eepublic. The motive power 
is supplied partly by water, partly by two steam- 
engines of English make. The chief articles pro- 
duced are mantas and yarns. 

The State of Queretaro covers an area of 504 
square miles, and contains a population of 180,000. 
The metropolis is situate at an elevation of 6600 
.feet above sea-level, and numbers 55,000 inhabi- 
tants. In importance it ranks fourth in the Ee- 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 225 

public, only yielding to Mexico, Puebla, and 
Guadalajara. 

At 3.30 a.m. on January 7th, I was again seated 
in the diligence, continuing my route to the capital. 
That day's journey was described as the longest and 
hardest of the entire route between Guadalajara and 
Mexico, and my informants, unfortunately, were not 
in error. The distance to Tula, our destination 
that day, is 42 leguas — 109 miles — leading over 
the most horrible roads of any I had yet tra- 
versed, banked half a foot high by yellowish -brown 
dust, which in dense clouds enveloped the coach 
the whole way. I have undergone many fatigues, 
have tramped many a mile over steep and 
rugged mountains in a broiling sun, and camped 
many a night on the snow -covered prairies, with 
only an ineffectual wall of canvas between me 
and the piercing north wind, but I can recall no 
hardships comparable with these sixteen hours of 
almost continual jolting and jostling, in an atmo- 
sphere composed of three parts of dust to one of air. 

As I had frequently done before, I now exchanged 

my seat in the interior for one behind the cochero 

on the roof of the diligence to secure a wider 

p 



226 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

view. This certainly offered me a purer atmos- 
phere, but the motion was naturally less equable, 
and forced me to grasp the rails with both hands 
to retain my equilibrium. As I never relin- 
quished my gun during the whole time of my stage- 
coach travels, it may be imagined that I was far 
removed from the temptations of listlessness or 
indolence. 

Immediately after leaving the city we toiled up 
a steep hill of rocky formation through a wild 
and arid country, productive of nothing but 
nopales. The stony soil, however, seemed to 
suit the prickly pear cactus, for on both sides 
of the wide road dense forests of it stretched 
away as far as eye could see. This hill is called La 
questa China, and is infested with brigands. This 
had been emphatically mentioned by everybody of 
whom we had sought information, with a sympa- 
thetic smile and shrug, as much as to say, "If 
you get through elsewhere you will be sure to 
catch it there" but our good fortune continued, 
and we passed in safety. In spite of the bad 
reputation of this locality, and the impotence of 
the authorities to stamp out the robbers that 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 221 

ply their trade there, only four tattered cavalry 
soldiers escorted the diligence. 

After reaching the summit of the hill our 
route continued over a plateau, on wretched 
roads across the most forbidding and sterile 
country imaginable. With the exception of a 
miserable pueblo of huts, called La Palma, there 
is no town or village, or even hacienda, the 
entire way between Queretaro to San Juan del 
Rio, a distance of thirty-five miles. We changed 
mules at poor-looking ranchos, consisting merely 
of palsied and solitary houses, and mostly sur- 
rounded by maguey fields. The latter, and 
nopales, seem to be the only plants that can 
feed on the soil. This whole vast plain appears 
to be of very ancient lava formation, and its 
thin layer of earth only coats it at intervals. 
Pieces of lava and grim boulders strew the gloomy 
waste, which is at times patched with ragged 
stubble, besides the wild-growing prickly pear cacti, 
but otherwise utterly nude and dismal. 

At nine o'clock our eyes were gladdened by 
the view of a green and fertile valley lying in 
the direction of our route, as an oasis in a desert, 



228 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

This defile is formed by one of the head-streams 
of the large Rio de Montezuma. It is a pretty 
little river with gently sloping green banks. On 
the stream and cradled among trees and luxuriant 
herbage is situate San Juan del Rio, whose steeples 
and houses gradually rose as we approached. 
Splendid huertas outside the town were a mass 
of fruit-trees and magnificent flowers, and the wide 
road which we followed was sweet with umbrageous 
mezquites and arboles del Peru. 

Crossing the river over a good stone bridge, we 
drove up the main street, and halted before a 
rather modest fonda. This main street is a very 
wide, tolerably well-paved road, overarched on 
both sides by rows of beautiful trees, under the 
shade of which the people were comfortably in- 
stalled in numerous benches. The houses are gaily 
painted, perhaps to excess in many instances, but 
rendering the town peculiarly pleasing. Here for 
the first time I noticed substantial wooden 
gratings before the windows instead of the usual 
iron bars, which gave the houses a doubly 
piquant appearance. 

Continuing our journey we soon left the fra- 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 229 

grant gardens, and the fresh green fields of San 
Juan behind us, and again plunged into the same 
barren plain. After four miles we crossed the 
frontier and entered the State of Mexico, and 
at eleven o'clock we halted at a hacienda to 
partake of luncheon. Whilst we were seated 
the diligencia from Tula, with the passengers 
bound west, arrived. They, like ourselves, were 
parched and cloaked with dust, and in the same 
state of uncleanliness. For more than three hours 
after resuming our route, the country underwent 
no change, until at about three o'clock in the 
afternoon the mountains, which had all day bounded 
the plain, commenced to dawn on our view 
and approach one another. The road gradually 
ascended, and we entered the mountain range 
called Sierra Arroyada, which in this part 
forms the watershed between the Atlantic and 
the Pacific. The scenery became varied and pic- 
turesque; right and left the country was composed 
of numerous hills, with dimpled dales between 
them, carpeted by soft, short velvety grass, and 
studded with groves of tall trees and matted brush- 
wood. Cotton trees, with full pods, from which the 



230 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

fleecy substance was already bursting, were abundant, 
as were tamarind, and Peruvian pepper-trees, grouped 
in knolls or growing isolated, and giving to the 
country the appearance of a park. After crossing 
several small streams and fair vales, both deliciously 
and delicately fresh, the road commenced to ascend 
more rapidly, and by degrees the vegetation became 
thinner, and presently ceased. 

The country assumed a bleak aspect, and 
everything indicated that we had reached a con- 
siderably higher altitude. At a forlorn-looking 
rancho, where we changed mules, we had arrived 
at the summit of the pass, 8300 feet above the 
level of the sea. Thence we gently descended, 
and a little further followed the margin of a deep, 
sandy barranca, without a particle of vegetation to 
warm its cold and yellow sides. As we proceeded 
the declivities grew exceedingly rocky, and the road 
led over a succession of loose stones and boulders, 
that forced the cochero to walk his mules at a snail's 
pace. There appeared no end to this wretched 
stand-still torment. All the occupants of the dili- 
gence, half-suffocated with dust, and sore all over 
with knocks and bruises, were silent and sulky, 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 231 

and our arrival at the last hill before Tula had no 
other effect than to add symptoms of anxiety to 
the many of fatigue hitherto manifested; for this 
precipitous hill was the hunting-ground of a much- 
feared gang of ladrones. It was perfectly dark 
when we descended this height on a steep road 
that skirts one side of it, whilst a yawning bar- 
ranca spread its chasm beneath the other. 

Twenty minutes more landed us safely before 
the fonda at Tula, without our having met the 
dreaded brigands, who that very morning, as the inn- 
people informed us, had plundered a private party 
travelling in a carriage of their goods and chattels, 
mules and all, leaving the bare vehicle on the 
road and dispatching its occupants back to Tula 
in a perfectly nude condition. And this took 
place within 300 yards of the fonda ! 

It was eight o'clock before we sat down to dinner 
that evening, and as we had to start again early next 
morning, it was impossible to see much of the little 
town. As far as the hotel was concerned, however, 
we found the accommodation afforded almost as 
good as at Quer^taro, and much superior to what 
we had hitherto been inured. Our approach to 



232 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

the capital was thus announced by the presence of 
additional comforts and luxuries. 

The next day's stage was comparatively short. 
The distance from Tula to the city of Mexico is 20 
leguas, or about 52 miles, less than half the previous 
day's journey, and accordingly ought to have been 
completed in half the time, viz., eight hours. But 
instead of giving the travellers the benefit of the 
shorter distance, the Stage Company cleverly profit 
by it themselves, much preferring the interest of 
their own pockets to the comfort of the passengers. 
This is performed by providing fewer changes of 
mules, thus reducing the speed ; and whilst we 
had hitherto advanced at the rate of seven miles 
an hour, including stoppages, we to-day only 
made a little over five. 

Starting at half-past-six a.m., the sun had risen 
sufficiently high to allow of an inspection of Tula, as 
we drove through its streets ; but there was nothing 
to distinguish it from the generality of Mexican 
towns of equal size. A certain air of freshness, how- 
ever, was connected with the place, owing probably 
to a profuse distribution of bright trees, that con- 
trasted pleasantly with the gloom and dulness of 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 233 

similar towns. Tula boasts a very fine cathedral 
famed for the purity of its Gothic architecture, 
as the cure, who here joined the diligence, in- 
formed us. A few of the inhabitants had assem- 
bled in the doorway of the hotel to bid farewell to 
this priest, who was about leaving his parish for 
some time ; and it was amusing to see the eager- 
ness of the people (mostly women), to shake 
hands with their "pastor and master." In return 
for their few and quickly delivered speeches, he 
would simply pronounce the word "felicidad" in 
a reserved, dignified manner, and appeared rather 
annoyed at his flock's importunity. One enthu- 
siastic admirer of the cure was in attendance on 
horseback, and " escorted " the coach for more 
than two miles along the road. 

Tula is situate in a narrow valley, at an elevation 
of 7100 feet above the sea-level, and immediately 
after leaving the town we commenced ascending 
anew on our way to still increased altitude. For 
ten miles we drove slowly up hill, over a terribly 
dusty but not particularly rough road, leading 
through thinly cultivated fields planted with the 



234 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

usual cereals, and at half-past-eight o'clock arrived 
at Venta del Refugio.* 

Whilst the team was being changed we visited 
a most charming little waterfall, formed by the 
impetuous rush over some gaunt rocks of the waters 
of a small tributary of the Rio de Tula, which 
winds its craggy course a few yards from the 
Venta, and adds a grateful moisture to the luxu- 
riant growth of ferns and trees. 

Eefreshed by our little excursion we resumed our 
journey, and were soon interested in a vehement 
sermon which the cure, who had improved the 
interval by becoming more familiar with us, began 
to fulminate against the present Eepublican 
Government, the measures they had adopted to 
impair the influence of the priesthood, and the 
iniquitous spoliation, as he called it, of the church 

* Venta (a word which forms part of the name of a great many small 
places in Mexico), was originally used to designate halting-places in the 
open country. They were gradually established, in the early years of the 
colonisation of Mexico, on all the principal roads, and at distances from 
one another equal to a day's journey on horseback. In the course of 
time, and owing to the increase of population, a large number of these 
Veritas were transformed into towns and villages, or received additional 
ranc/io-buildings, while others retain their original shape to this day. A 
Venta pure and simple, consists of the posada or meson, the hostelry, 
containing sleeping accommodation and stables, the fonda, where food 
and drink may be obtained, and often a general store called the tienda. 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPTIAL. 235 

property. As I listened attentively to his elo- 
quent harangue, remained silent when I differed 
from his views, and now and then ventured a 
word of assent when he by chance brought forward 
an argument with which I agreed, he so misunder- 
stood my conduct as to believe me a staunch sup- 
porter of his views, and we became bosom friends. 
In return for the kindly sentiments for his 
party with which he credited me, he politely in- 
dulged in a eulogy of European and especially of 
English institutions, and endeavoured to impress 
two young Mexican fellow-passengers, who were 
returning to College after a holiday, with the supe- 
riority of the Old World civilisation. The two stu- 
dents, however, were true Mexicanos, who, like all 
the rest, are convinced that Mexico is the first 
country in the world. They incredulously refused to 
accept such a secondary rank for their native 
land, and having received an ultra-republican 
education, treated the cures discourse with some- 
thing very like contempt. Between the two 
parties in the coach the divine now became much 
excited, and adding violent gestures to still more 
violent words, threatened to shout himself hoarse, 



236 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

and us deaf. Exertion and dust, especially the 
latter, soon commenced to produce their effects; 
the padre gradually diminished in vigour, and 
finally, subsiding into a corner, wrapped his head 
in his cloak, and regardless of the severe jolting of 
the coach dozed peacefully to sleep. 

"We had meanwhile passed the summit of the 
mountain range which we had been ascending 
all the morning, and were travelling on a gently 
descending road round the hills and over the 
glades of the sierra. At one time, the way led 
along the margin of a long, narrow, but very deep 
barranca; at others, through sloping woodlands. 
The road thickly piled with dust, and anything 
but smooth, became more and more animated as 
we approached the capital. It was often so 
crowded that the diligence had to wait several 
minutes until it could pass, and the clouds of 
dust generated by the traffic were too awful to 
be described. Long trains of huge waggons, upon 
which the goods were stacked to an enormous 
height, drawn by from eight to sixteen mules, and 
ox -carts (of a superior description to those seen 
further west, and with civilised wheels) were 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 237 

literally blocking the way, whilst an enormous 
number of pack-mules, in defiance of a few useless 
arrieros, would spread all over the road, and often 
knock their protruding loads against one another 
or the coach. Meeting an unwieldy train of mulas 
de cargo when on horseback is quite a perilous 
affair. The beasts are -devoid of the slightest 
idea of distance, and in spite of your exertions to 
get out of their way, will often stubbornly face 
you and bring their loads in collision with your 
legs and your animal. Many accidents — some very 
severe — are constantly occurring in this way ; the 
best means to avoid them being to wheel round 
when the train approaches, and move in the same 
direction as the mules until a fitting opportunity 
arises for escape. 

The waggons proceeding towards the city were 
mostly freighted with large bales of cotton, whilst 
those tending in the opposite direction principally 
contained manufactured goods. The mules chiefly 
transported barrels and building stone. 

Seven miles from the Venta del Refugio there sud- 
denly appeared a rift in the hills, which until then 
had supplied, as it were, an emerald setting to the 



238 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

landscape, and the road led through a gap called the 
Puerto de Montero into a straight causeway, which 
in another four miles brought us to Huehuetoca at 
half-past ten. The small town is situate in a splendid 
valley girdled by mountains on all sides, excepting 
towards the south, where the view is bounded by the 
waters of the Laguna de Zumpango. To our right 
rose the peak of the Cerro de Sincogue, whilst on 
the left many a jagged crest towered above the 
range, the two most conspicuous being the Cerro 
Blanco and Cerro Colorado. The slopes of the hills 
and the valley are fruitful, and a perfect patchwork 
of haciendas. Fields of maze and other cereals 
succeed large maguey plantations and a number 
of orchards hedged off by substantial walls. 

After partaking of luncheon and admiring the 
musical talent of some mocking-birds caged in the 
patio of the fonda, I took my seat next to the 
cochero not to miss any feature of the celebrated 
valley of Mexico we were now nearing. The 
broad causeway was bordered on both sides by 
wide ditches which communicated with large 
canals, of which we crossed several on stone bridges 
before we reached our destination. The road, 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 239 

lined by tall poplar trees, soon assumed a very- 
European and specifically French appearance. The 
surface of these chaussees was by no means even, 
the left wheels of the coach sometimes running 
several feet above the level of the right. My con- 
versation with the driver elicited the fact that by 
shifting of luggage or some other trifling accident 
the equilibrium of the diligence is easily disturbed, 
and that "spills" are not at all rare occurrences. 
This intelligence brought to mind the account of 
an upset recited to me by the driver of a Californian 
concord coach, when a few months previously I was 
travelling from Knight's Ferry to Chinese Camp 
in Tuolumne County. Pointing out a somewhat 
nasty piece of road, he exclaimed : 

"At that spot Bill's coach was upset the other 
day." 

I understood that Bill was his colleague, and pro- 
ceeded to inquire how the accident had happened. 

" It wasn't Bill's fault, it was all owing to that 
confounded nigger sitting by his side." 

I ventured to ask what the darky had done. 

" He was chewing a tremendously big quid, sir ; 
those awful niggers always do." 



240 A PEEP AT MEXICO, 

I hinted my inability to comprehend how the 
quid could have interfered with the safety of the 
vehicle. 

"Well, sir," he replied, "he selected that very 
place to turn the tobacco from the right side of his 
mouth to the left, and over went the coach." 

A mile from Huehuetoca we crossed the small 
Rio de Cuautitlan on a stone bridge called Puente 
de Guadalupe; two miles further the rancho Los 
Pdjaros, and after another mile the small pueblo 
Coyotepec were passed on our right, while con- 
tinued crops of corn and plantations of maguey 
attested the skill of the agriculturist and the 
husbandman. Eight miles more, on the straight 
road, brought us to Cuautitlan, a pleasing little 
town. From here, that we might avoid a hill 
over which the main road leads, we turned off to 
the left, and after a mile arrived at Tultitlan, where 
our team of mules was exchanged for one of small 
gray horses. Eejoining the camino real, after a short 
distance we continued over the wide road, for two 
miles, with the narrow channels at its side, and the 
slim poplars, mezquites, and arboles del Peru overhead, 
when an ascent commenced, and we soon found 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 241 

ourselves toiling over a neglected causeway. Quit- 
ting the highest point, we began the steep de- 
scent at a rapid pace, and passing the rancho San 
Pedro Barrientos soon arrived at the dirty 
little town of Tldlnepdntld, after leaving which 
we at last entered the long-expected valley of 
Mexico. 

From Tlalnepantla the road turns off to the left, 
and as soon as the houses were past, the two giant 
volcanoes, the chief features of this famed region, with 
their huge peaks of snow, sparkled in the distance. 
The sky was marvellously keen and clear — a real, 
intensely blue Mexican sky — and the atmosphere, 
when free from dust, deliciously light and invi- 
gorating. Objects far away, and beyond the range of 
vision in any ordinary climate, here appeared quite 
near, and the hoary heads of the venerable Popoca- 
tepil and Ixtaccihudtl stood out as sharply against 
the sapphire sky as if only two instead of fifty miles 
intervened between us and them. On the whole, 
however, the first sight of the valley of Mexico 
disappointed me. My position was not sufficiently 
commanding to obtain an extensive coup dceil ; 

and finding myself on low ground, surrounded by 

Q 



242 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

fields and trees, at no time distinguished much of 
the landscape. 

The road continued consistent to the end of 
our journey — a wide, straight causeway, in bad 
repair and fearfully dusty, with its wearisome border 
of dykes and poplars. The ditches communicated 
with a number of canals, large and small, which 
frequently intersect the road and over which are 
solid bridges. The harvest around owes its rich- 
ness to this plentiful irrigation. The plain bristles 
on all sides with cones and hill-tops, under whose 
shelter repose drowsy villages and haciendas belted 
with green glades, and each overshadowed by its 
huge white church. 

The nearer our approach to the city the greater 
the animation on the road, and the busier traffic of 
waggons, carriages, riders, and pack-mules. Indians 
carrying heavy burdens, and in costumes different 
from those hitherto seen, added a new feature to 
the scene. In a frame of wood called huecalito 
by the natives, strapped on the back by a leather 
thong passed across the forehead or chest, men 
and women were carrying heavy loads of char- 
coal, wood, vegetables, and pottery, as well as coops 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 243 

of poultry for market. The lineaments as well as 
the dress of these Indians were by no means 
identical with those previously met with. They 
are the descendants of the old Aztecs, and it is a 
most curious fact that though their ancestors were 
in advance of all the aboriginal tribes, and though 
they dwelt close to the very centre of all Mexican 
civilisation, they have remained truer to their 
native instincts than any of the other Indian races. 
They are said to have altered but very little since 
the conquest, and their customs and culture, if 
at all affected, are believed to have deteriorated 
rather than improved since Cortez first set foot 
upon their soil. Their clothing is of the simplest 
description, consisting merely of a large sarape 
in which the entire body is swathed, and a pair 
of short white drawers. The women wear a short 
petticoat, and a square cloth on their heads, 
closely resembling the head-gear of the Eoman 
peasant girl. 

I am informed that these people manufacture 
themselves nearly all materials they require, and 
that by the same primitive process which was in 
vogue before the Spanish settlement. In the 



244 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Valley of Mexico intermarriages between Europeans 
and Indians are less general than almost anywhere 
else in the Kepublic, and the mestizos who people 
the capital in great numbers have mostly migrated 
from other portions of the country. 

Two miles from Tlalnepantla we reached the 
small village San Bartolo, at the foot of the fine 
Cerro Tenaya, and turning to the right we entered 
a causeway six miles long, which runs in an uninter- 
rupted line up to the city gates. 

The road improved as we proceeded through 
clusters of villages, haciendas, fondas, and pid- 
querias. There was plenty to occupy eye and 
mind: before the houses, especially the inns, 
Indians, arrieros and others, lolled in lazy groups, 
their animals or vehicles waiting on the road, 
whilst their various contents tempted me to ask a 
thousand and one questions. To our left, two 
miles away, a chain of mountains bounded the 
view, at the very foot of the Cerro Guerrero, 
(the last of the range) glittered the village and 
cathedral of Guadalupe. In the far distance to 
our right, and founded on a sheer and towering 
rock, rose the historic stronghold of Chapultepec, 



FROM GUANAJUATO TO THE CAPITAL. 245 

and before us the towers and domes of Mexico 
came gradually in view. At a quarter to four 
o'clock we entered the purlieus of the city — low, 
straggling, and distinguished alike for size and 
squalor. Further on we passed through the 
Garita de Vattejo, one of the city gates, and 
driving over a level railway (the Mexico and Vera 
Cruz line), where we just escaped the passing 
train, entered the suburbs of the City of Mexico. 
Through dingy streets, and wretched dens, ten- 
anted by the lowest classes, we quickly reached a 
thoroughfare of nobler appearance. The houses 
were larger in size and of better architecture, the 
streets were cleaner, the inhabitants looked more 
civilised, and the further we advanced the more 
imposing became the scene. Turning to the left, 
and rattling through two or three more streets, we 
finally reached the patio of the stage-coach office, 
and with it the end of our diligence travel, "sin 
novedad." 



CHAPTEE X. 

IN THE CAPITAL. 

Hotel Iturbide — Arrived in the tierrafria — Plaza mayor — The Cathedral 
— The Sagrario — The Palacio del Gobierno — Portales de Mercaderes — 
Casa de Cabildo — Lonja — Portales de lasfiores — View from Cathe- 
dral tower — The Alameda— Statue of Charles IV. — The Paseo de 
Bucareli — The Tacubaya tramway — Tacuhaya — Plagiarios — The 
plagio of Sefior Cervantes — The Tlalpam Eailway — Chapultepec — 
Ahuehuetes — Spanish moss — Puente de Alvarado — Aqueduct of San 
Cosme — Fuente de Tlaxpana — Tree of the noche triste — Tacuba — 
The teocalli — Trivoli de San Cosme — Guadalupe— A stone frigate — 
Paseo de la Viga — The canal — Indios — Guatemozin's bust — Garita 
de la Viga — Floating gardens — The Eoldan market — Santo Anita 
— Ixtacalco — A strange burial-ground — The calendar stone — 
Aztec war-god — Sacrificial stone— The Museum — The Academy 
of San Carlos — Cimenterio de San Fernando — The Cinco de Mayo 
— Theatres — Situation of the city of Mexico— Its buildings and 
streets — Climate — The people — Foreigners. 

The Despachio de las Diligencias adjoins the 
large Hotel Iturbide, and their jwtios are connected 
with each other. Declaring my intention of 
repairing to the latter, half-a-dozen porters seized 
my luggage, and forming quite a procession took 
me to a splendid room on the first floor, com- 
fortably furnished, and opening into a long balcony 



IN THE CAPITAL. 247 

commanding the busy Calle de San Francisco 
beneath. The hotel used to be the palace of the 
Emperor Iturbide, but inhabited by him only for 
a very short period. It is an immense and mag- 
nificent building, of which any European city 
might be proud. A large archway leads to the 
enormous patio, at least fifty yards square, round 
the side of which rises the elegant though gigantic 
pile. Balconies are attached to every window both 
towards the quadrangle and the street, and the 
rooms are spacious and lofty. My apartments 
faced the shady side of the street, and I felt quite 
chilly, and was thus forcibly reminded that I was 
now in the tierra fria, at an altitude of 7600 
feet above the level of the sea. The mornings and 
evenings were so pitilessly cold that I had to take 
refuge in an overcoat, and it was only in the middle 
of the day that the temperature was at all com- 
patible with the probabilities of the latitude. 

The hotel proprietor does not furnish any of the 
meals; they are supplied by a French restaurant 
established in an inner patio of the building. 
The tables are arranged in a large saloon, and also 
in small arbours which brighten the rustic grounds 



248 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

of an adjacent garden. After the rough and 
primitive fondas of the interior, this sudden 
change was most delightful, and by offering the 
comforts of New York, London, or Paris, seemed 
to annihilate the distance from them. 

It is not my intention to repeat in this chapter 
what has often been described by much abler pens. 
I shall only touch upon a few of the many objects 
of interest it has been my good fortune to view 
under peculiarly advantageous auspices ; not that 
I can hope to reveal any absolute novelty to the 
reader of the many special books on the subject, 
but simply to acquit this "Peep" from the im- 
putation of entirely ignoring the capital of the 
country. 

Quitting the Hotel Iturbide the visitor emerges 
on the Calle de San Francisco, and turning to the 
right, the straight street called at its further end 
the Calle de Plater os will bring him to the Plaza 
mayor, the grand square of the city. It is a 
large space of oblong shape, measuring 270 yards 
in length and 200 in width. Its northern side 
is entirely taken up by the magnificent Cathedral, 
and the adjoining Sagrario, the chief parish 








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IN THE CAPITAL. 249 

church, which is often supposed to belong to the 
Catedral, but is in reality a distinct edifice con- 
structed in a totally different style. The Cathedral 
occupies the site of the old Aztec pyramid and 
its temple (teocalli). It is very majestic, crested 
by a fine dome and two lofty and artistically 
worked twin-towers, of which the accompanying 
photograph will convey a much better idea than 
any description of mine. The facade of the 
Sagrario is very singular; it exhibits numerous 
reliefs of the most " bizarre " sculpture that can 
be imagined — appears too florid, and is as a 
whole certainly more elaborate than artistic, 
although some of the detail is admirably con- 
ceived. 

Along the eastern side extends the charming 
Palacio del Gobierno, and although only two 
stories high, does not fail to strike the beholder. 
It flanks the entire side of the jplaza, and its 
interior affords accommodation for not only all the 
Government offices and the Hall of Congress, but 
also for the President's apartments, small bar- 
racks, and a guard-house. The reception rooms 
are spacious, elegantly but simply furnished, and 



250 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

enriched with several valuable objets de vertu, 
acquired, I am informed, by the late Emperor 
Maximilian. The palacio was built in 1693, on 
the spot where Cortez had constructed a palace 
for himself, and which up to 1692, when it was 
burnt, served as residence for the Viceroys. 

Opposite the palacio, i.e., on the western side 
of the plaza, a row of houses supported by a 
colonnade lines the road ; and the street, similar to 
that of Guadalajara, is called Los Portales de 
Mercaderes. Under the Portales some of the 
very best shops in Mexico are to be found. 
Tailors, hatters, milliners, jewellers, and one or 
two restaurants, are the chief occupants, whilst 
silver spurs, native filigree work, and a variety of 
knick-knacks, are offered for sale in the booths and 
cajones. This thoroughfare is all day long literally 
packed with people, who in their different cos- 
tumes are a wonderful and curious crowd. 

On the south side of the plaza mayor stands 
the Casa de Cabildo, the seat of the Ayuntamiento 
or municipal body, containing also within its walls 
the hall and rooms of the Lonja, or Merchant's 
Association. On the same side as this building 



IN THE CAPITAL. 251 

extend the Portcdes de las Flores— arcades similar 
to the other portcdes. The spacious area of the 
plaza was an open waste until about seven years 
ago, when the central part was transformed into 
a splendid public garden, after the designs, it is 
said, of the Empress Carlotta. 

In the middle of the square a circular raised 
platform, surrounded by iron railings, and 
approached by steps, displays a pretty bed of 
flowers, round which the musicians group them- 
selves when playing in the evening. This 
circular platform is encompassed by tastefully 
arranged walks and flower-beds, whilst fine trees 
supply spreading shade, and comfortable benches 
the opportunity for rest. Although this garden is 
of considerable size (120 yards square), still a very 
large portion of the plaza on the east and west 
sides remains empty, affording space for ranks of 
hackney coaches of an inferior description, and 
mostly drawn by mules. 

One morning I ascended the west tower of 
the Cathedral, and, arrived at the top, was able to 
survey the famous valley in all its loveliness. From 
my position I could see the wide reach of plain 



252 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

wholly girdled by mountains, the sunny lakes, the 
solitary cones, the prim canals, and straight cause- 
ways, while hamlet, harvest and pasture, each added 
fresh tints and touches to the exquisite picture. 
Eastward glimmered the wide expanse of Lake 
Texcoco as far as the encircling ridges of the 
background ; southward rippled the calm waters 
of the Lagos de Chalco and Xochimilco, parted 
by their tiny barrier of land. In the west Cha- 
pultepec's shaggy crag rose from the ground ; 
whilst to the north the white walls of Guadalupe 
Cathedral reflected the glaring rays of the sun. 
In the far distance, towards the south-east, the 
cowled head of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl's out- 
stretched shoulder, the " burning mountain " and 
the "white woman," scornfully lifting their snowy 
summits above all their compeers, were projected 
in sharp relief from the intense blue of the sky. 
My learned cicerone traced the roads by which 
Cortez and his army had entered Montezuma's 
city, the way he fled when defeated on the noche 
triste, as well as the buildings and localities con- 
nected with the romantic records of the conquest ; 
and forgetting the present in the contemplation 



IN THE CAPITAL. 253 

of the past, all the familiar names and deeds of 
Prescott's graphic history assumed life and reality 
as I gazed upon the classic ground. 

Leaving the plaza by the same Calle de Flateros, 
and continuing through the entire lengths of the 
Call a de San Francisco, we arrived at the Alameda, 
a most magnificent specimen of the Mexican public 
garden. It is a parallelogram of 530 yards length, 
and 220 yards width, and divided into four similar 
squares by broad walks. Each of the smaller par- 
allelograms is itself traversed by diagonal paths, 
which converge in circular plots, each cool and 
sparkling with the spray of its own fountain. No- 
thing can exceed the overpowering beauty of this 
park. Ash-trees, elms, and aspens vie with a 
hundred shrubs and flowers for the supremacy in 
foliage, and scent the air with delightful fragrance ; 
nor must we omit the sequestered nooks and 
crannies so well known and appreciated by the 
Mexicans. 

Pursuing our walk in the Calle de San Fran- 
cisco, past the Alameda for a quarter of a mile, 
through one straight street which is named afresh 
at each succeeding manzana (block of buildings), 



254 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

we reach a small open space that forms the set- 
ting to an equestrian statue of Charles IV. of 
Spain, which until the declaration of independ- 
ence in 1821 stood in the plaza. The republicans 
removed the monument, and for twenty years it 
was concealed from view, but in 1852 it was rein- 
stated in this place, to front the wooden and now 
abandoned Bull-arena, 

Turning to the left we can look along the noble 
avenue of the Paseo de Bucareli extending in 
one unbroken line to the Garita de Belen, a 
distance of three-quarters of a mile. Twice at 
intervals of four hundred yards, the paseo widens 
into fountained crescents, and at its end plays the 
fuente de la Liberdad, so named after the statue 
emblematic of liberty rising from its basin. It is 
thus a vista of majestic trees and feathery jets of 
water. The road, which is about fifty yards wide, 
reminded me not a little of the Champs Ely sees, 
and in the evenings it is thronged with all the 
rank, beauty, and fashion of Mexico. My visit 
happened to coincide with the session of Con- 
gress, when the assemblage in the paseo is most 
brilliant. The luxury lavished on carriages and 



IN THE CAPITAL. 255 

horses astonished me, I must confess, and was 
scarcely to be distinguished from similar scenes 
in Hyde Park and the Bois de Boulogne. I am 
informed that Mexicans will stint themselves at 
home to shine in public. The better Mexican 
families are, as a rule, not rich, but their vanity 
and pride are generally in inverse proportion to 
their means ; and rather than let the outer world 
suspect their indigence, they will revel in frijoles 
and tortillas all the year round, and inhabit barely- 
furnished rooms, allowing the liveried coachman, the 
well-appointed equipage, and the American horses 
to absorb their diminished income. I was irre- 
sistibly led to ask myself, on hearing of these char- 
acteristics, if this was an epidemic wholly peculiar 
to the citizens of Mexico. As no description of 
social gathering is enjoined by the canons of 
Mexican fashion, and as visiting generally is re- 
stricted to the most intimate friends, the caprices 
of vanity can be indulged without an opportunity 
for the unwelcome cat to leap out of tins tin- 
selled bag. 

Among my many excursions to the environs 
of the city I paid a visit to Tacubaya and 



256 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

Chapultepec. In order to become acquainted 
with the customary means of locomotion, we 
selected the tramway- cars in preference to any 
saddle-horses or other carriage. The ferro-carril 
de Tacubaya, which has been in operation several 
years, is a street railway with large cars, on the 
American pattern, and drawn by horses. It com- 
mences in the Empedradillo, the street which 
runs from the plaza mayor along the west side 
of the cathedral, and turning to the left follows 
a parallel street of the Calle San Francisco, past 
the north side of the Alameda, the Bull-arena 
with King Charles's statue, and leaving the paseo 
to the left, finally quits the city, on a fine road 
canopied with spreading trees. 

The Tacubaya railway is four miles in length, 
although the actual distance from Mexico is only 
three. The little town is splendidly built on 
rising ground, and its site is much finer than 
that of the capital. It is said that shortly 
after the conquest a mandate arrived in Mexico 
from the King of Spain to transfer the seat of 
government from the old Aztec city to the 
spot where Tacubaya now stands. The order, 



IN THE CAPITAL. 257 

however, was thwarted by the violent opposition 
to the Viceroy offered by the generals and nobles, 
whose landed interest would have severely suffered 
by the change proposed. 

Tacubaya numbers many beautiful villas and 
mansions, mostly standing in their own grounds 
or parks, planted in a princely manner. All the 
skill of modern gardening is here displayed to 
perfection ; all European improvements and appli- 
ances have been pressed into the service of the 
proprietors ; in short, everything that art can 
supply has been secured, and thus a faint idea 
may be formed of the result in a climate where 
nature yields so readily to the hand of man. I 
had the pleasure of inspecting one of these estates. 
Its many acres abound in long avenues of tall 
trees, lawns as smooth as billiard -tables, ponds 
and little streams stocked with water-fowl, 
mazes and shrubberies, bowers, kiosks, fountains, 
and beds replete with a choice and cosmopolitan 
flora. 

The mansion was a miniature palace and the 
whole establishment the perfection of perfection. 
Without being actually envious, I could not quite 



258 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

overcome the possibility of being so when my 
round was completed, and I thought for a while 
that life in Mexico might be made tolerable in 
the possession of such an Eden. My surprise 
may be imagined when I learnt that the owner 
had not resided there for years, and that the 
gentlemen who were fortunate enough to call these 
oases their own dared not permanently occupy them 
for fear of being kidnapped on their way between 
Tacubaya and the capital. No case of plagio had, 
however, now occurred for a long time, and it was 
hoped that the proprietors might consider it suffi- 
ciently safe to return ; on the other hand, it was 
maintained that the recent absence of these crimes 
was owing to the want of opportunity for their 
perpetration, as no one was willing to hazard the 
slightest risk. The fact, however, that hardly any 
precaution can exterminate these crafty plagiarios 
is illustrated by an incident that occurred about 
eighteen months before my visit. Seflor Cervantes, 
a Mexican gentleman, in the act of entering his 
own house in one of the most frequented thorough- 
fares of the capital, was one evening seized by 
several men, who, huddling his head in a cloth, 



IN THE CAPITAL. 259 

quickly hustled him into a vehicle at hand for 
the purpose. Driving off at full speed, the mis- 
creants, after endless detours, halted before one 
of the wretched houses near the Puente del Molino, 
where they deposited their victim in a hole under 
the floor already prepared for his reception. When 
Senor Cervantes was found missing, all the detective 
machinery of the Government was brought into 
requisition to trace him, but no clue to his where- 
abouts was discovered, especially as the jplagiarios, 
intimidated by the vigorous measures taken, failed 
to make any overtures as to the ransom required. 
A fortnight wore away in fruitless search, when a 
relative of the missing gentleman accidentally 
discovered the house where he was concealed. 
Informing the authorities, a rapid and sudden raid 
was made upon the place, Senor Cervantes, more 
dead than alive, rescued, and four of the crimi- 
nals taken prisoners. After a summary trial, 
they were shot before their own house, and I 
myself saw the riddled walls which testified to the 
tragedy. 

A walk through a few of the slovenly Tacubaya 
streets brought us to the railway station of the Tlal- 



260 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

pam line, whence a train soon conveyed us to Cha- 
pultepec, a distance of only a mile and a half. 

This line of railway connects Mexico with Tlal- 
pam, fifteen miles to the south-south-west, and its 
first section from the capital to San Angel was 
opened in 1866 ; it was completed in 1869. The 
work was executed by English engineers, although 
the rolling stock is of North American manufacture. 
It was quite a novel sensation to be seated in a 
railway car and progressing at "locomotive" speed 
in this country. The change from diligencias and 
murderous roads to spacious carriages and smooth 
tracks was as agreeable as it was surprising, and I 
could scarcely believe my own senses when, looking 
out of window, I could convince myself that we 
were flying past maguey fields and hedges of 
yiopales in a veritable railway train. 

The station at Chapul tepee is opposite the 
palace, and proceeding a short distance we came 
to the entrance, approached by a wide road. 
Threading the file of soldiers ranked in front of 
the guardhouse, we entered the celebrated grounds, 
the beauty of which widely surpasses their fame. 
Chapultepec is one of the sights of the world, re- 



IN THE CAPITAL. 261 

markable as much for its chequered historical asso- 
ciations as for its rare natural splendour. 

It is in fact, and not in name alone, a royal spot, 
the residence, during revolutionary and eventful 
centimes, of the leaders of the country. The 
fanatical and ignorant priests in the train of the 
conquerors demolished the ancient palace, and 
carried their Vandalism so far as to destroy two 
mammoth statues of Aztec kings hewn into the 
rock, but fortunately they did not oppose their 
barbarism to the ancient forest of cypresses 
where the Aztec monarchs rioted in the luxuries 
and magnificence of their voluptuous courts. 

The castle of Chapultepec is a long and narrow 
building, spreading along the summit of the por- 
phyritic rock, and necessarily following in form the 
outlines of its foundation. It stands on the exact 
site of the royal Aztec palace, and received its present 
shape from the Viceroy Don Bernardo de Galvez in 
1785. 

It is reported that during the time of its con- 
struction, opinions were divided as to whether it was 
intended for a fortress or a palace ; but however much 
its architecture points to the former purpose, it was 



262 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 



certainly the country residence of Galvez' successor, 
though he himself did not survive its completion. 

Since then the castle's fortunes have changed with 
those of the country, and it has passed from the pos- 
session of Viceroys to that of Emperors and Pre- 
sidents. Some years previous to the brief reign of 
Maximilian it was used as a military school, until 
the Hapsburg Prince ordered its thorough repair; 
and besides decorating the interior with fresco 
paintings and models of classical statuary,* caused 
a wide carriage-road to be graded up the hill. 
Since the ill-fated Emperor's death, Presidents 
Juarez and Lerdo de Tejada have added another 
link to its long chain of fitful inheritance. 

But by far the most interesting and beautiful 
part of Chapultepec is the forest of akuehuetes or 
ahoehoetls, by which it is embowered. The two 
names are the native designation for the Deciduous 
Cypress (Taxodium distichum), the former being the 
Spanish corruption of the latter, which is the true 



* The manner in which the Mexicans regard these statues is a matter 
of great amusement to the foreign residents. Their otherwise certainly 
not over-fastidious sense of morality has been so much shocked by the 
nudity of these figures that they have resorted to the almost incredible 
expedient of covering them with clothes much resembling sarapes. 



IN THE CAPITAL. 263 

Aztec word. These cypresses are mighty trees of 
extraordinary age, which can count their years by 
centuries. The witnesses of Montezuma's daring 
and his ancestors' adventures, they were regarded 
already by his contemporaries as objects of wonder 
and reverence, and are at present perhaps the 
most curious memorials in the world of trees. Cali- 
fornia boasts the most gigantic growths, and main- 
tains that the Calaveras and Mariposa groves 
contain specimens of Sequoia gigantea which, 
with trunks of 90 feet in circumference, and 300 
feet in height, surpass any rival that Australia cpuld 
furnish. In comparison with the ahiiehuetes, the 
palm in size and height must be conceded to their 
rivals, for the gnarled trunk of the largest and 
oldest cypress at Chapultepec, commonly called 
"Montezuma's tree," measures but 48 feet in circum- 
ference, and its height, when contrasted with the 
straight towering sequoia, is inconsiderable ; but in 
all other respects the twisted stem of the ahuehuete, 
with its majestic pavilion of leafy branches and its 
garlands of Spanish moss hanging down in delicate 
ribbons from every twig, is by far the most im- 
pressive and beautiful of the two. Connect with 



264 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

it finally its glorious traditions, and the Californian 
usurper is fairly beaten from the field. 

The Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) — hatha 
Espanola — is one of the strangest parasites imagin- 
able. It is a tangle of pale-green tendrils, in thick- 
ness like ordinary string, and while one end is 
closely wound round the branch of the tree, the 
remainder droops in long straight festoons. Its 
popular name, heno (hay), conveys the best 
possible description of the effect it produces on 
the view, for at first sight an unaccustomed eye 
might think that enormous quantities of hay 
had been emptied on to the forest from above, 
and that it had remained undisturbed on the 
trees. If it were not for this parasite, much of 
the grandeur of this hosque would vanish : 
it is the heno that lends to it that peculiar 
and indefinable quaintness, which, added to 
its many other graces, renders it thoroughly 
unique. The same moss is known in most of 
the Southern United States, but I doubt whether 
it can be found in such masses ; it certainly 
does not exist under the spell of similar surround- 
ings. 



IN THE CAPITAL. 265 

The foliage of the ahuehnetes, with its downy 
thatch of heno, veils the walks as with a 
baldachin, on which the fierce rays of the 
sun beat in vain. The fragrance of the wild 
shrubs and herbs fills the air with delicious 
freshness, and the sweet songs of birds betoken 
that man is not the only living being that can 
be grateful for the wonders and the peace of 
this earthly paradise. 

As I walked through the forest, the baths, 
and the approaches to the palace, my kind com- 
panion would point out to me the spots which 
tradition associates with the doings of Montezuma, 
and but a little further perhaps a favourite seat 
of the unhappy Empress Carlotta : strange simi- 
larity of fate I Three centuries and a half is 
the chasm which separates the Aztec monarch 
from the Hapsburg Emperor; both were glad- 
dened by the tranquil charms of Chapultepec, 
and contributed to its adornment and perfection ; 
both, according to their own light, laboured for 
the good of the people, and both perished by 
the act of those whom they desired to benefit. 
Surely, the rocks and trees of Chapultepec unfold 



266 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

a tale of more romantic history, and have outlived 
greater vicissitudes of fortune, than any other spot 
in modern times. 

Eeturning to Mexico by the Tlalpam railway, I 
awoke to a ludicrous sense of the present as I 
heard the hum of the crowds that thronged the 
trains which reminded me of the neighbourhood 
of London on Easter or Whit-Mondays. It was 
a Sunday afternoon, and great numbers had gone 
short distances into the valley to spend the day. 
Arrived within the precincts of the city, the loco- 
motive was replaced by horses, and the railway cars 
were thus drawn right into the centre of the town, 
till they halted near the plaza. 

Another most interesting excursion Avas to 
Popotla and Tacuba. Chartering a hackney 
carriage near the Portales Mercaderes, we drove 
through the western part of the city, along a 
broad road in good repair and terraced with 
luxurious villas and mansions, standing in 
large gardens. This is the most aristocratic 
quarter of Mexico, and the houses certainly ap- 
peared almost equal to those in corresponding 
parts of the large European capitals. 



IN THE CAPITAL. 267 

This road also is most fickle in its nomen- 
clature. One of its designations, Puente de 
Alvarado, marks the locality where, if the story 
be true, the Spanish hero of that name cleared 
the wide trench, which then existed, by one 
tremendous bound of his horse during the 
hasty flight of the Spaniards on the memor- 
able noche triste. Along the centre of this 
wide road runs the large aqueduct of San 
Cosme, a line of clumsy low brick arches, with 
no attempt of any kind to render the structure 
ornamental. It supplies the city with very good 
water from Santa-Fe called agua delgada — light 
water — to distinguish it from the agua gorda — 
thick water — supplied by the aqueduct of Belen 
from Chapultepec, and which is highly impreg- 
nated with various salts. Near the city gate — 
the Garita de San Cosme — which we soon passed, 
a fountain is built into the arches of the aque- 
duct, called Fuente de Tlaxpana. Situate as it is 
at a bend of the road, where the arches turn 
off to the left, it was soon obscure in the dis- 
tance as we continued in our former direction. 
The fountain itself is constructed in the mixed 



268 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

and florid style, which for want of any other appel- 
lation is by Mexicans termed cliurrigueresco. 

A mile and a half's drive brought us to Popotla, 
a small and miserable village, and in front of the 
celebrated Arbol de la noche triste, the " Tree of 
the Sad Night." It is believed that on the 
night of the rout of Cortez by the Aztecs, it 
was here that he stopped in his flight, and with 
one of his followers hid himself behind the tangled 
shelter of a huge ahuehuete until the pursuing 
foe had returned to the city. The venerable 
cypress fronts a church which was built soon after 
the conquest to commemorate the disastrous flight, 
and which like the tree is named Iglesia de la 
noche triste. The grand trunk of the historical 
ahuehuete was until a few years ago in a flourish- 
ing condition, and doubtless still nourished some 
of the very branches that screened the defeated 
Spanish warrior; but by the fiendish act of some 
fanatical priests it was set on fire, and there re- 
mains now but the hollowed trunk, torn, wrinkled, 
and black, with only a few live twigs, as if to prove 
that no petty malice of man can utterly sap the 
energies of the time-honoured monarch of the forest. 







**sk C/* 



TREE OF THE „ NOCHE TRISTE,, AT POPOTLA. NEAR MEXICO. 



IN THE CAPITAL. 269 

The stories related about the incendiaries are very 
numerous and differ materially, but I have been 
assured, on authority which is entitled to consider- 
ation, that it was set on fire by a party of low ruffians 
hired for the purpose by the cure of the neighbouring 
church, owing to a dispute which had arisen between 
him and the municipality regarding the ownership 
of the ground on which the cypress stands. The 
actual perpetrators of this act of Vandalism were 
brought to justice and severely punished, but nothing 
could be proved against the instigating priest, and 
he escaped scot free. Since then the tree has 
been protected by a stone wall, surmounted by an 
iron railing, which was inaugurated by President 
Lerdo in person to publish his opinion of the cleric's 
sacrilege. 

A short drive brought us to the village of Ta- 
cuba, near which is situate the remains of an Aztec 
teocalli, popularly called pyramid, although the 
ancient structure in no way resembled any of the 
Egyptian giants. A mound overgrown with grass, 
and utterly shapeless, is all that survives of the 
former temple, and appears so much like an ordi- 
nary hillock that it would be passed unnoticed by 



270 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

all but the initiated. The narrow-gauge tramway, 
owned by the Toluca Eailway Company — which at 
present only run their small mule-drawn cars 
a few miles out of the city — closely skirts the 
barrow, a small portion of which has been cut 
off to make room for the " Station." We wandered 
over and all around the vast teocalli ; its broken 
surface bristles with pieces of pottery — red painted 
with black lines — whilst on its sides traces of adobe 
layers can be seen, which seem originally to have 
framed the staple of the entire structure. From 
the loftiest part of these remains we could survey 
the long line of road on which the defeated 
Spaniards fled from the city beneath the twilight 
of that fateful noche triste. It was, in fact, the 
same path which we had just traversed, and we 
now occupied the very point where tradition asserts 
that Cortez took up his position on the following 
day to review the attenuated remnants of his flag- 
ging and dispirited legions. 

A magnificent ahuehuete not far from the 
teocalli, and armed with a perfect panoply of 
branches, is by some modern historians believed to 
be the real tree of the noche triste, as dis- 



IN THE CAPITAL. 271 

languished from the charred stump of Popotla; but 
the existence of the ancient church at the latter 
place renders it the more probable locality. 

As we drove back we gazed for the last time on 
the eventful spot ; pursuing our old way we soon 
entered the city, and proceeded to visit the Tivoli 
de San Cosme, a large pleasure garden and re- 
staurant, the best and most fashionable in Mexico. 
The grounds are extremely attractive ; fine trees 
alternate with rare shrubs and choice flower beds ; 
ponds and brooks, fountains, bowers, and kiosks 
only require the presence of languishing swains and 
shepherdesses to make the scene thoroughly Wat- 
teauescjue, while the presence of melodious and 
aquatic birds, added to a selection of quadrupeds, 
seem to bridge over a century, and almost convert 
it into a zoological establishment. The " cuisine " 
here has the reputation of being most recherchee, 
and it is the favourite haunt of the President for 
official or diplomatic dinners, as well as the much 
frequented resort of the Mexican "upper ten." 

On another day we drove to Guadalupe Hidalago, 
which is hallowed by the greatest of all the Mexican 
shrines, that of Santa Maria de Guadalupe. It lies 



272 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

about three miles from the city ; the town, though 
well-built, is insignificant apart from its churches, 
and nothing can exceed the dulness of its streets 
on all but feast-days. On those sacred festivals, 
however, I am informed, and especially on the 12th 
of December, the Virgin's great da} r , Guadalupe 
swarms and buzzes with human beings like a 
beehive, but I had not the advantage of visiting 
it on one of these special occasions. I have no 
intention of inflicting upon the reader the well- 
known legend of the miraculous appearance of 
the Indio-Yirgin to Juan Diego, of the not less 
miraculous portrait of herself which she presented 
to the Archbishop, nor of the many and fabulous 
wonders which she has worked since her debut 
in Mexico ; nor do I wish to encumber these 
pages with the measure of her "most holy neck," 
although as I purchased on the spot a ribbon 
embodying the exact circumference, the statistics 
on the subject are close at hand. I only wish 
to mention the four objects most conspicuous at 
Guadalupe : the cathedral erected at the foot of the 
Cerrito de los Gachupines, the chapel gracing its 
summit, and commemorating the very spot where 



*^f 




IN THE CAPITAL. 273 

the vision was first seen, another chapel on the brink 
of a sulphur spring said to have burst from the 
rock at the Virgin's bidding, and lastly, an immense 
full-rigged ship anchored half-way up the hill, and 
constructed of stone and adobe. This latter was 
the votive offering of a gentleman who owed his 
life to the Virgin's aid during shipwreck, and is 
a real "stone frigate," perhaps the only one in 
existence beyond that found in " Jack's" vocabu- 
lary. I refrain from describing both the cathedral 
and the chapels : this duty has been frequently — 
perhaps too frequently — performed by others; and, 
after all, accounts of such edifices are much alike 
in all but consistent accuracy to fact ; suffice it to 
say, that the large church blazes with " glittering " 
gew-gaws, whether " gold " or not, after the repeated 
visitations of the Republicans, it is impossible to 
decide. The sacred portrait of the Virgin, the 
same that she herself sent to the Bishop, is to be 
inspected on special days, but I did not have the 
satisfaction of beholding it. 

One of the most interesting excursions undertaken 
by me in the neighbourhood of Mexico was a ride 
in the most charming company along the old Paseo 



274 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

and the chief canal. Leaving the city by the 
Puente del Molino we entered the Pciseo de la 
Viga, the chief promenade before the Paseo de 
Bucareli became fashionable. It is a slatternly 
road with a rim of old trees, and now used as a 
"garden of the people." Parallel with it runs the 
ancient canal cut by the Aztecs loDg before the 
conquest, and which, by intersecting a corner of 
the city, connects Lake Tescoco with Lakes Xochi- 
milco and Chalco. This part of the surroundings of 
Mexico is perhaps that which has changed least 
since the days of Montezuma, and at a short dis- 
tance from the town the visitor finds himself 
bewildered by the utter change, and transported 
into the midst of sights and sounds which have 
nothing in common with the half-European life of 
the capital, but which, in their epic simplicity and 
strangeness, resuscitate with the breath of reality 
the "dry bones" of pre-Spanish history. 

The canal was alive with multifarious craft 
very similar to our fishing -punts, as well as 
with tiny canoes, all propelled by poles or paddles 
plied by standing Indios. The frail pinnaces 
often weighted with two or three sitters, seemed 



IN THE CAPITAL. 275 

fated to capsize every minute, but would again 
dart along, skilfully handled, at an enormous pace; 
the heavy punts, on the other hand, often provided 
with awnings, and freighted with vegetables or 
grass, laboured slowly along under the guidance of 
one or two sturdy figures. There was nothing of 
Spain in all this, nothing to recall European habits 
of any kind ; and surely the belief that the Indios 
of to-day, as seen on this canal, closely resemble 
those of three centuries ago, is not fanciful or 
untenable. 

In the paseo stands a recently- erected monument 
to Guatemozin, the last of the Aztec sovereigns. It 
is a colossal bust, supported by a square pedestal, 
which on the side facing the city bears an inscription 
in Spanish, and on the opposite one the translation 
of it in old Mexican. Arrived at the end of the 
paseo, we crossed the canal on a stone bridge, the 
arch of which is barred by a gate called Garita de 
!a Viga. Here is the city boundary, and the 
toll-house of the tax (or octroi, as the French would 
say) on all articles of consumption. 

This collection of the customs naturally impedes 
the traffic, and the canal was here literally chocked 



276 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

with punts and canoes laden with all kinds of 
vegetables, either heaped on the bare floor of the 
boats, or piled in baskets and sacks. Indios with 
the baggy white drawers rolled up to the knee, 
sarapes round their shoulders, and straw sombreros 
on their heads, were awaiting their turn for paying 
the dues amid a lively interchange of conversation ; 
and whenever one of their comrades appeared on 
the scene, they would salute each other in the most 
formal manner by doffing their sombreros and 
lowering them almost to the ground. This is a 
ceremony contracted from the Spaniards, and is 
adhered to by the Indios with a ridiculous observ- 
ance of rigid etiquette. 

We followed the canal along the opposite margin, 
and soon came in view of the chinamjxis, the 
Mexican floating gardens, whence the vegetable 
supplies of the city are derived. These gardens 
are the embankment of almost the entire canal, and 
are owned and cultivated by the Indian population. 
" Floating " was certainly a misnomer on the occasion 
of my visit, for the oblong patches of soft soil, which, 
about thirty yards in length and five in width, rise 
a foot or two out of the water, have in process of 



IN THE CAPITAL. 



time taken root in the ooze below, and although 
anything but real terra jirma, the present chinampas 
have ceased to be moveable, and cannot, like those 
of ancient days, be towed from one part of the 
swamp to another. We rode on a narrow path 
running between the canal on one side, and a ditch 
on the other. This ditch is fed from the canal, 
and feeds in its turn the numerous cuts which in- 
tersect it at right angles, and extend along the sides 
of the fruitful patches. 

These chinampas are spread far and wide on 
both sides of this canal, and in various other places 
near Mexico, where the locality is favourable. 
The space on which they are situate is so evenly 
divided between water and land, that without a 
knowledge of their history it would be difficult 
to say whether the gardens had been hung on the 
water, or the canals and ditches burrowed out of the 
land. "We remarked large numbers of Indians at 
work on these plantations, which were simply 
packed with vegetables, small shrubs, and brilliant 
flowers. The produce is easily brought to town 
by the punts moored alongside of the gardens, 
especially as the canal threads many of the streets 



278 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

in the easternmost quarter with an almost Venetian 
regularity. In one of them called the Calle del 
paente de Rolda?i, near the point where the canal 
turns off towards the Garita de San Lazaro, the 
boats come to a standstill, for here is the real port 
of the canal, and the most interesting of all the 
curious markets of Mexico. In the mornings the 
buyers congregate on the quay that borders the 
water, and a most lively and noisy scene ensues 
between vendors and purchasers ; clamorous bargain- 
ing alternates with chaff and compliment, and all 
the bustle and stir attendant on unloading the 
boats and transferring the produce, vegetables, 
flowers, and poultry to pack-mules or waggons. 

Apart from the view, this quarter is one of 
the most melancholy in all Mexico. The build- 
ings are cracked and discoloured; the canal is 
turbid with garbage, and the atmosphere horribly 
redolent. 

But this is a digression from the towing-path 
outside the city, along which we were riding. 
Following its course, we soon sighted the gay village 
of Santa Anita, entirely peopled by Indians. Their 
low, solid houses reflect their flaunting colours 



IN THE CAPITAL. 279 

taperingly in the canal, and are shaded by a cool 
verandah in front, propped by stout pillars of 
masonry. Numerous pulqiierias were to be seen 
among the habitations, and on the walls under the 
verandahs rude pictures smeared with doubtful in- 
scriptions furnished more cause for pity than con- 
tempt, and suggested similar productions amongst 
the ruins of Pompeii. 

The current of the canal, which we continued to 
follow, runs powerfully towards the city, and is 
occasioned by the elevation of Lakes Xochimilco 
and Chalco above the level of that of Tescoco, the 
waters of which the canal unites. The flow is said 
to be equal to three miles an hour. 

A quarter of an hour's ride brought us to another 
Indian village, similar to the last, and named Ixta- 
calco, rendered romantic and mediaeval in aspect by 
a large church built at the time of the conquest, 
and now partly in ruins. With evident risk to 
our limbs we ascended the roof by frail wooden 
steps and holes in the walls ; but were rewarded for 
our exertions by a splendid view from the top. 
Villages, haciendas, chinampas, and canals were 



Mi 



280 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

spread out before us, as if drawn on a map, to our 
right lay the fair city, and above the surrounding 
buttresses of the mountains the venerable volcano, 
his "White Wife," and the scowling Ajusco seemed 
to bid defiance to man and his civilisation. 
Attached to this church is a burial-ground, which 
horrifies the visitor by its utterly neglected con- 
dition, and the human bones which lie scattered 
broadcast. In one corner a heap of rubbish indi- 
cated the spot where tiers of gavetas were once 
arranged, nothing now remaining but fragments of 
coffins and skeletons. In the centre of the ground 
is a cross on a pedestal of rough stones and 
heterogeneous masonry, wholly cloaked by its accre- 
tions of skulls and bones. We were much amused 
by the manner in which three or four ragged. Indios 
dogged our footsteps, as if afraid that we might 
appropriate any of the hallowed relics of their 
ancestors. 

Eemounting our horses, we crossed the canal over 
a tottering wooden bridge, and followed a disused 
road pleasingly varied by canals and ditches, which 
we had to ford, until we reached the causeway 




m 



TOLTEC CALENDAR STONE, CITY OF MEXICO. 



IN THE CAPITAL. 281 

called Calzada de San Antonio Abad, by which we 
returned to the city. 

For the archaeologist Mexico affords a fertile field. 
Toltec and Aztec remains are exhibited in various 
parts of the town, the most conspicuous being the 
Calendar stone imbedded in the wall of the west 
tower of the Cathedral. The principal collection 
of relics, however, exists in the Museum, which is 
a mine of the most curious objects ransacked from 
all parts of the country. 

The circular Calendar, which is of Toltec origin, 
and thus of great antiquity, is sculptured on a 
monolith of basalt so rough and seemingly porous 
that at first sight it looks like lava. The stone is 
twelve feet six inches in diameter, and is let into 
the masonry of the church at a height of five feet 
and nine inches above the pavement. From this 
Calendar stone the system of ancient Toltec as- 
tronomy has been preserved to us. It proves the 
great degree of civilisation to which the Toltecs had 
attained, a civilisation doubtless much superior to 
that of their successors, the Aztecs. 

Their year coincided almost exactly with that of 
the Julian Calendar, which till 1752 was the 



282 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

standard of time in England, and is to this day 
dominant in Eussia.* 

In the museum the most interesting objects are 
the war-god and the sacrificial stone, which, 
together with other ponderous antiques, are de- 
posited in the patio of the building. 

The war-god exults in the Azetic name of Huit- 
zilopochtliy and is as ugly as it is curious. It would 
be almost futile to convey a correct idea of it by 
description alone ; let it be enough to say that it is 
carved from a single block of basalt about nine feet 
in height, and six feet across at its widest part. 
The idol does not represent any human figure or 
even any approach to one; it is sculptured on all 
sides, and shows in the centre, both in front and 
on the back, a death's head encircled by human 
hands placed in all manner of positions. The rest 
of it is a fantastic combination of snakes, feathers, 
and other appendages for which names are not 
forthcoming. 



* In 1793 the Mexican astronomer Antonio de Leon y Gama wrote 
a most learned and minute description of this stone, as well as of the 
Aztec war-god, which was republished in Mexico in 1832, and edited by 
C. M. de Bustamas. The book is named Description historica y crono- 
logica de las dos piedras, etc. 



IN THE CAPITAL. 283 

It is said that this most hideous of idols was 
reared aloft triumphantly on two high poles at the 
summit of the teocalli (present site of the cathedral) 
in the Aztec time, and smiled benignly on the 
altar where the human offerings were sacrificed. 

It is believed that the cylindrical stone, at pre- 
sent termed the " Sacrificial Stone," was this very 
altar, on the polluted surface of which so many 
thousands of victims were barbarously slaughtered. 

This stone, which stands near the war-god, is 
three feet high, and nine feet in diameter, is also 
of basalt, and is chased round its sides with rude 
figures in bas-relief. In the centre of its top 
is bored a shallow hole, said to have been the 
spot where the victim's head reposed, and thence 
runs a narrow groove to the edge and down the 
side, by which, so tradition affirms, the blood 
was drained off! 

The patio of the museum includes many other 
antique stones, mostly idols, and in the galleries 
of the interior is an extensive collection of 
smaller objects, unearthed either in the valley of 
Mexico or at Mitla, Palenque, and other parts of 
the Eepublic. It has been the custom to compare 



284 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

these Toltec, Aztec, and Yucatan antiquities with 
those of the Egyptians, and the theory once started 
has been repeated with marvellous consistency by 
the majority of writers, although nearly all 
authorities on the subject refute the conjecture. 
For my own part, I cannot comprehend how 
any similarity between the two could ever have 
been discovered. In the European Museums, in 
that at Boolac, at Thebes, and other places of 
ancient renown in Egypt, I have seen nothing 
that bears the slightest resemblance to these 
Mexican relics, excepting, of course, the usual 
similitude in form where the animal or vegetable 
creation is imitated. 

There are stored a large number of more modern 
relics in the Museum, connected with the con- 
querors and viceroys, the war of independence, 
and the late intervention, but like all such curio- 
sities only worthy of notice because of their 
historical significance. 

The contents of the Academy of San Carlos em- 
brace saloons of pictures, carefully divided according 
to their various origins and schools ; but, with the 
exception of a very few, they possess little claim to 



[IN THE CAPITAL. 285 

merit. The Mexicans themselves have undoubted 
talent for art, and will in time certainly send 
forth painters of note ; native efforts already far 
transcend the second-rate copies of the celebrated 
European masters, which crowd the walls of the 
gallery, and which are popularly believed to be 
genuine. If that were really the case, the Aca- 
demia de San Carlos would possess one of the 
richest art-collections in the world. 

The principal burial-ground in the capital (now 
fallen into disuse) is the Oimenterio de San 
Fernando, a visit to which proved of the highest 
interest. It is but small, and contains galleries of 
gavetas round three sides of the square. The 
central space is a conglomeration of graves and 
monuments, some of which are of noble and 
appropriate designs. Here repose the ashes of 
Mejia and Miramon, the two generals who were 
shot simultaneously with the Emperor Maximilian 
on the Cerro de las Campanas, and in two 
conspicuous gavetas lie the bodies of the repub- 
lican generals Arteaga and Salazar, whose 
execution by virtue- of Maximilian's so-called black 
decree was hereafter made the chief argument in 



286 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

support of his own sentence. A fine block of sculp- 
tured marble marks the resting-place of the late 
President Juarez, and near him is buried General 
Zaragoza, the hero of the battle near Puebla on the 
fifth of May 1862. The bare facts connected with 
the exploits of this general in no way justify the 
veneration in which his name is held ; at all events, 
the deed which is his sole passport to immortality 
would in any other country have received the 
most scanty recognition. In Mexico faute de mieux, 
the Cinco de Mayo is the festival par excellence ; it 
is the most popular national holiday, and its anni- 
versary is celebrated with the wildest manifestations 
of rejoicing and triumph. And why? Because the 
French General Laurecnai, with 5000 men, in his 
endeavour to storm the Fort of Gaudalupe, (com- 
manding an eminence and strongly fortified), was 
on that day repulsed by the 12,000 Mexicans which 
formed its garrison, and temporarily obliged to retreat. 
This cheap victory, which only delayed but did not 
prevent the subsequent capture of Puebla, is the 
cause of General Zaragoza's renown and of his sepul- 
ture in the Cimentario de San Fernando among the 
nation's most honoured dead. 



IN THE CAPITAL. 287 

There is no town in Mexico, however insignificant, 
that does not own a street or a plaza named after 
this great day — the Cinco de Mayo. 

Among several theatres, the teatro Nacional and 
the teatro Iturbide are the two principal playhouses. 
The latter, during my sojourn, was given up to 
Congress for their sittings, owing to the repairs 
which their hall in the Palacio was undergoing. 
The Nacional is a spacious and imposing house 
with wide approaches and elegant internal arrange- 
ments. It resembles a European theatre in many 
ways, and is much superior to those found in the 
provincial towns. 

A French opera boaffe troupe were perform- 
ing the modern works of their repertoire, and I wit- 
nessed several amusing representations during my 
stay. 

The capital of Montezuma, the ancient Tenochtit- 
lan, was built (somewhat similar to Venice), on 
ground reclaimed from the shallow waters of Lake 
Toxcoco. Since the conquest the lake has gradu- 
ally retreated, until the modern city of Mexico, 
although constant to its ancient site, not only 
stands on terra fir ma, but is five miles distant 



288 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

from the nearest part of the present lago. Of the 
old Aztec town not a stone remains ; the noble 
city of the past was utterly razed by the con- 
querors, and the Mexico of to-day, rich as it is 
with the handiwork of three centuries ago, is essen- 
tially a new town. The streets are straight and 
rectangular ; the buildings are lofty and massive, 
and although all different in the details of execu- 
tion, are yet pervaded by a harmonious unity of 
conception, which imparts a sense of perfection and 
grandeur rarely met with in our own cities. The 
thoroughfares average fifty feet in width, are toler- 
ably well paved, and fairly illuminated by gas- 
lamps. The central quarters of the city are by 
far the best; they present, as it were, a nucleus of 
palaces with an enveloping shell of hovels; for the 
outlying districts are squalid and miserable, both 
as regards tenements and tenants. The fondness 
for colours, so generally noticeable, prevails consis- 
tently in the capital, and most of the buildings flare 
with painted coatings of yellow, pink, pale green, or a 
blended mixture of all three. This custom, strange 
as it may appear, impressed me as pleasing ; but it 
must not be forgotten that the sparkling rays of an 



IN THE CAPITAL. 289 

unclouded sun, and the lavish distribution of con- 
trasting foliage, are no mean contributors to the 
enchancement of the general effect. 

The uniformity of the streets is frequently 
violated by large and elaborate churches and 
chapels, of which there are no less than seventy- 
eight, and about sixty tree-planted squares are, 
as it were, the oases of the town. Few cities 
of the same size can rival Mexico as regards 
magnificence of aspect ; there is certainly not 
one that can boast of an equal situation, both 
as concerns its rare natural beauty and singularly 
salubrious climate. The vast oval-shaped valley * 
in which it stands rises 7600 feet above the 
level of the sea, an altitude which transforms 
the usual temperature of its latitude (19° 25' 45" 
N.) into one as unvarying as it is moderate 
and pleasant. The mean reading of the thermo- 
meter is 70° Fahrenheit, and there exist no great 
extremes, winter and summer being much alike. 
It is only in December and January that the 
mornings are at times somewhat chilly, and the 

* The greatest diameter of this oval is about forty-five, the lesser 
about thirty miles. 



290 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

houses standing in the shade perhaps not perfectly 
agreeable ; but where the sun has free access no 
perceptible difference is experienced. The atmos- 
phere is naturally light and of a rare transparency; 
and the sky, which is seldom streaked with a 
single cloud, is ever brilliant with the keenest, 
fullest blue. 

The thoroughfares are always lively. At no 
time from early morning till late at night does 
the ever-surging hum of voices and ever-moving 
tramp of feet abandon them, and the multifarious 
costumes of the mixed populace invest the streets 
with a strange atmosphere of outlandish gaiety. 

Military uniforms and the glittering charro may 
be viewed side by side with the sombre European 
dress ; ladies in delicate black with airy mantillas 
vie with the mestiza women in flaunting hues and 
rebozos ; the poorly clad Indio, bending under his 
heavy load, pushes his groping path through a 
crowd of sauntering idlers ; while hard by perhaps 
copper-skinned flower-girls exhibit their magnificent 
bouquets, which they offer for a few reales, spread out 
temptingly on a wide part of the pavement; agua- 
dores cased in their leather garments with huge 



IN THE CAPITAL. 291 

water-jars (chochocol) on their backs, suspended by 
straps from their foreheads, and a smaller jar (can- 
taro) hanging in front, attached to a string round 
their necks, patiently plod along under their burden ; 
carboneros, men and women, bending under their 
dingy huacalitos, wander from house to house ; 
whilst countless hawkers of confectionary, dulces, 
agua J resect, tamedes* and a hundred other 
dainties, carry their wares on their heads, and 
make the air ring with their motley cries. Ima- 
gine the bustle and the noise of the Neapolitan 
vicoli a hundred-fold increased, and you have a 
faint idea of a Mexican street-scene. 

The capital numbers 200,000 inhabitants, more 
oddly mixed than in any other community in the 
Eepublic. Indians and mestizos constitute the 
bulk of the population, whilst by far the great 
majority of Mexican Creoles reside here. There is 
also a considerable contingent of foreigners of all 
nationalities, as large in proportion to the size 
of the city as that of London or Paris. French- 
men, I believe, are most numerous ; next rank 
Germans, Italians, Spaniards, Americans, English, 

* A species of savoury roll, made of maize-dough and meat. 



292 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Swiss, and Austrians. For many years past 
Mexico has been popular with the French, and 
long before the late war they flourished as 
perruquiers, chefs de cuisine, barbers, and small 
shopkeepers. Since their army visited the country 
their numbers have much increased ; but, as may 
be expected from their antecedents, they have not 
risen to any prominent position. In their own 
sphere, however, they are prospering, and the 
sons of the small French town Barcellonette have 
lately struck terror among the other traders in 
calicoes and muslins by their power to undersell 
their competitors. The latter maliciously ascribe 
their superior mercantile ability to their low 
origin, and remark that a man who lives on six 
recdes a week can easily outdo the aristocrats of 
the trade who spend six pesos. The Mexicans 
prefer the French to all other nationalities; it is 
an old liking, which the late war has not de- 
stroyed, and hardly even diminished. The reasons 
for this are many. There exists a certain simi- 
larity of character between them ; they have been 
reared in the same religion ; and last, but not least, 
the gushing, ceremonious politeness of the French- 



IN THE CAPITAL. . 293 

man fascinates the Mexican, whose vanity is easily- 
tickled by these demonstrative though insincere 
formalities. "When questioned as to their fond- 
ness for the French, Mexicans will tell you 
repeatedly that un Frances tiene educacion, which 
by no means implies that a Frenchman is edu- 
cated, for in that respect they and Mexicans rank 
much alike, but that the Gaul knows how to 
embrace d la Mexicana, i.e., fall into his friend's 
arms as if he were about to wrestle with him, and 
actively pat his back with the right hand of 
affectionate acquaintance. 

The Germans in the city of Mexico are the chief 
merchants, and although they do not monopolise the 
trade of the capital, as they do that of the ports 
and interior towns, their firms are notwithstanding 
among the most important. Besides, almost every 
watchmaker, tailor, and hatter will be found to be of 
Teuton or Swiss origin. It is to the Germans like- 
wise that the Mexicans owe the introduction of 
European beer, and throughout the country the 
signboards with their placards of cerveceria aleman 
recall memories of baierisch or lager-bier. The few 
English residents are nearly all connected with the 



294 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

principal banks and the Mexico and Vera Cruz 
Kailway. They with the Americans (their court- 
eous and hospitable Minister, the Hon. John W. 
Foster, at their head) and a very few Germans 
form the elite of foreign society in the capital. 

The Spaniards and Italians are so intermixed with 
the native population, that it is difficult to disas- 
sociate them from the general mass ; but not a few 
of the Austrians, Belgians, and Swiss, remnants of 
Maximilian's heterogeneous army, are frequently 
encountered among the leperos* and pordioseros t 
of the portales, the Indian birdseller on the plaza, 
or the inmates of the prisons. 

* The leperos of the city of Mexico are that peculiar nondescript 
class which in Europe is only to be found in the lazzaroni of Naples. 
Clad in rags, with no fixed abode, they earn their livelihood in the 
most mysterious manner, and ever cheerful in temperament, they 
combine unusual shrewdness with a remarkable ability for repartee. 

f The pordiosero is the Mexican beggar. His custom to ask alms 
in the name of God — por Bios — has given him this appellation, which 
has become a perfectly recognised expression. 



CHAPTER XL 

ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS. 

General ignorance about Mexico — Causes of the civil wars — The Laws of 
Eeform — The intervention — Maximilian's death — Measures against 
the priests and religious societies — Custom-house malpractices — 
Inheritance from the Spaniards — Population of the Kepublic — 
Creoles — Mestizos — Indians — Climate and productiveness of the 
country— The future. 

Few countries among those classed within the 
pale of civilisation are so imperfectly known to 
the world as the Bepublic of Mexico. To the 
historian its name is fraught with little else but 
the prowess of Cortez ; to the journalist it is 
synonymous with internal struggles and con- 
vulsing loronunciamientos ; whilst the financier 
regards it with contempt as a faithless and 
obdurate debtor. 

In later years, the unfortunate attempt of the 
Hapsburg Archduke to transform it into an 
Empire has added another dark stain to 
its already tarnished name, and the mere men- 
tion of the country will evoke remarks 



296 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

upon the " horrible assassination " of the Emperor 
Maximilian. 

The public at large learn little more than 
certain isolated facts, from which they draw 
hasty conclusions — nearly always erroneous, be- 
cause based upon utterly imperfect data. The 
vilest epithets are lavishly showered upon the 
people, and it is rare that allowances are made 
for the peculiar condition of the country and 
its history for the last fifty years. 

Until 1821, Mexico formed part of the Spanish 
Empire, and from that year dates its first 
breath of independent life. At that time, the 
two great parties in the country — the Eepublicans 
or Liberals, and the Church party or Conserva- 
tives — had already commenced their embryo 
struggles, which t for half a century since have 
changed the beautiful land into a perpetual 
battlefield, causing progress and civilisation to 
halt at its frontiers, and educating the people 
in strife and crime. Viewed in their entirety, 
the continued civil wars present a terrible illus- 
tration of the iniquity and influence of the 
Eoman Catholic priesthood, for every ghastly blot 






ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS. 297 

on the chronicle of modern Mexico is associated with 
the devastating machinations of the clergy. From 
time immemorial they have been contending for the 
mastership with the Liberals ; from time immemorial 
their resources and energies have been husbanded 
to send armed legions into the field against the men 
who were struggling to endow their country with 
the treasures of instruction and knowledge. The 
Eoman Curia, with all the wealth at their com- 
mand, have fought fiercely to enforce their reign 
of corruption and ignorance against that of liberty 
and enlightenment; and now, after half a century 
of upheaval and awful bloodshed, the Eepublic is 
commencing to purge itself of this social gangrene, 
and the country already glimmers with the first 
dawn of regeneration. 

The task of the Liberals has been gigantic, 
and whatever may be the faults of the Mexi- 
cans — and they are numerous — this great honour 
must be conceded them, that they have been in 
the van of the great contest of modern times — 
the fight of liberty against Ultramontanism. The 
curse of Spain was left indelibly branded 
upon her colony even when its independence was 



298 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

accomplished : the population were thoroughly 
priest-ridden, fanatic, ignorant, and ever ready- 
to rise against the power in authority ; the 
clergy corrupt, debased, and utterly criminal, 
shrinking from no deed, however vile, when an 
iota of their power was endangered. What won- 
der that revolutions were easily fomented, and 
that hordes could be rallied by the thousand, 
eager to rush madly, with crucifix in hand, against 
any champion of emancipation from the priest. 
In the general confusion, small chiefs, often 
neutrals, would gather adherents, and prowl about 
the country for the sake of plunder, and a state 
of hopeless tumult was the inevitable result. 

This reign of terror continued until, in 1855, 
Comonfort became President and inaugurated 
reforms, which were improved and completed 
by his successor, Juarez, who in July 1859 
at Vera Cruz (where he resided, owing to the 
occupation of the metropolis by the clerical 
counter-president Zuloaga) promulgated his cele- 
brated Laws of Eeform, which enacted the 
suppression of monastic orders, the nationalisa- 
tion of all church property, and civil as well 



ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS. 299 

as religious liberty throughout the Eepublic. 
Against this Magna Charta the clergy opposed 
the most violent intrigues, which, failing in 
Mexico, spread to Europe, where they ulti- 
mately succeeded in organising the interven- 
tion of 1861, which commenced with the landing 
of the combined forces of France, England, and 
Spain, and ended in the execution of the Arch- 
duke Maximilian. France alone (for luckily 
England and Spain withdrew when the real state 
of affairs became apparent) is responsible for this 
iniquitous intervention, which has been more 
baneful to Mexico than all those internal dis- 
sensions which it professed to terminate. The 
Napoleonic interference not only protracted 
the most bloody civil war that the country 
had ever experienced, but brought a third and 
foreign power on to the field, which, although 
siding with one party, was in reality opposed to 
both, and ultimately forsook its partisans in an 
ignoble and treacherous manner. 

The French had no sooner quitted the country 
when Juarez easily overcame Maximilian's army, 
and the latter expiated by his death, not his own 



300 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

faults, but those of his advisers committed under 
his name. The so-called Black Decree signed 
by him two years previously, and by which 
many Liberal officers of rank were shot without 
trial, was the main reason why mercy was refused 
to a prince who was suspected by the Eepublicans 
(not without some cause from their standpoint) as 
an impostor and an usurper. 

A regular trial was accorded to Maximilian, 
and his cause was advocated by able and inde- 
fatigable defenders ; and although it would 
perhaps have been a more politic and certainly 
a more humane act on the part of the Mexicans 
to have allowed him to return to Austria, yet it 
is only utter ignorance or prejudice that can 
stigmatise his execution as a "murder'' or an 
" assassination. " # 

Since the termination of Maximilian's Empire, 
the country has continued comparatively undis- 
turbed under the rule of Liberal Presidents. There 
have been pronunciamientos, it is true, but they 
have been confined to isolated localities ; and the 

* Compare the official documents on this subject contained in 
"The Fall of Maximilian," by W. H. Chynoweth. London, 1872. 
Tiiibner & Co. 



ON SO CIE TY AND POLITICS. 301 

priests, though still immensely powerful, have not 
ventured to coalesce, or, if they have, have not 
succeeded in organising any formidable opposition 
to the Government. The ecclesiastical source of 
the intervention, and the consequent anomaly of 
a foreign prince on the throne of the Republic, 
opened the eyes of many who had hitherto been 
their adherents, and made them cognisant of their 
real object. This increase to the strength of 
their party prompted the Government to propose 
to Congress the incorporation with the Constitution 
of the Laws of Reform above mentioned, and that 
measure was duly passed in December 1873. 

For the last eight years the Government has 
been vigorous in executing these laws to the 
very letter. No monk, no nun, no Jesuit as such, 
is permitted to reside in the Republic ; no priest 
is allowed to range the streets in the garb of 
his order ; cloisters and monasteries have been 
converted into reformatories and schools ; : and 
the levying of taxes for clerical purposes is pro- 
hibited. The masses are being afforded the 
means of instruction, and the aim of the Govern- 
ment is to rescue the youth of the land from 



302 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

the hands of the priest, and entrust him to those 
of the schoolmaster. The clergy are naturally- 
bitter and violent in their sermons and news- 
papers, complain of oppression, and endeavour to 
ridicule the principle of liberty which the Govern- 
ment claims to embody. 

There are not a few in our own country who, 
although thoroughly opposed to the principles of 
Eoman Catholicism, yet consider interference with 
its malpractices, such as has been the policy of 
Mexico for years, and has recently become that 
of Prussia, as an infringement on the liberty of 
the citizen or the subject. They thus hold the 
same opinions in this matter as the Mexican clergy. 
But would these lovers of unconditional freedom 
wish to repeal the various enactments against 
license in betting, gambling, prize-fighting, and 
duelling? And what else are these various pro- 
hibitions but so many curbs on the free will of 
the individual, enacted for the good of the com- 
munity? They are, one and all, restrictions 
against a class, intended to preserve the people 
at large from immorality, which in its develop- 
ment might become dangerous to the State; 



ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS. 303 

they are precautions taken to prevent a subtle 
poison from being instilled into the minds of weak 
individuals, who, too ignorant to keep aloof of 
their own accord, would without the supervision 
of the State cause the ruin of themselves and 
others. What but this mean the laws directed 
against scheming priests? "What else is com- 
passed by the expulsion of monks, nuns, and 
Jesuits ? Nothing more far-reaching than to deliver 
the community from a class of parasites, who, 
while monopolising the wealth of the people, 
extinguish every spark of independent thought, 
and under the disguise of religion make mind 
and body servile to their interests. What is 
there more dangerous to the welfare of the com- 
monwealth ? what more blighting to the growth 
of true morality ? 

A nation aroused from such spiritual stag- 
nation is apt to relapse into apathy or to be 
frenzied into atheism. 

But it may be urged that his religion is the 
birthright of each individual, and that to meddle 
with it is not the part of any but a " paternal " 
government. This is an important truth, but reli- 



304 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

gious conviction does not embrace the abuse of 
religious ritual. 

The life of the soul, as of the mind, cannot be 
healthy under a despotism, though, too, it can 
rarely thrive without guidance. It is surely better 
that the earnest laity should lop off the moulder- 
ing branch than that a degenerate priesthood 
should sap the vital roots. 

There is no sway more disastrous than that of 
an effete and heartless Pharisaism. If to restrain 
the encroachments of the clergy be intolerant, to 
be enslaved by them is intolerable. 

The few countries that, since the time of the 
Eeformation, have cast off the yoke of Eome can 
hardly appreciate the monstrous aggressions of the 
priesthood of Eoman Catholic countries ; and it thus 
happens that while the latter are one by one taking 
measures against the clergy, and ridding themselves 
of religious societies, the Protestant countries, such 
as England and the United States, are quietly 
harbouring the refugees, who in time will doubtless 
illustrate afresh the fable of the husbandman and 
the viper. Mexicans who wish to join the Jesuits 
or become monks, or Mexican women who desire 



ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS. 305 

to enter a convent, cannot now do so in their 
own country, and they are strangely enough com- 
pelled to go to the United States or Europe if 
they would enroll themselves in a religious order. 

But whatever the exertions of the Liberals in 
this direction, they can progress but slowly. 
That which has taken more than three centuries to 
construct cannot be demolished or counterbalanced 
in a decade ; and however vigorous the present ad- 
ministration in Mexico, and the feeling of the 
minority that constitutes the educated classes, the 
mass of the population is still entirely in the 
grasp of the priests, and the confessional can still 
muster more adherents than the schools. The 
lower ranks, say three - fourths of the entire 
population, are still partisans of the clergy ; and 
although interest may at times induce or force, 
urge them to join the standing army, yet 
they would more readily obey the priest than the 
officer if circumstances were to place the former 
at their head. 

Notwithstanding the most strenuous efforts of 

the Central Government, the influence of the 

capital cannot affect the remote provinces very 

u 



306 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

rapidly, in a country so devoid of ready means 
of communication. In the distant States, despite 
the suspension of church taxes, and the other 
reforms, the church is the only building that is 
in repair amid misery, filth, and ignorance ; the 
church alone flourishes in the wretched pueblo, 
and deriving nourishment from the surrounding 
poverty, is like the gigantic maguey which grows 
fat and succulent upon the arid sand. Of all the 
States through which my route lay, I found 
this fact most striking in Jalisco. There, energetic 
as have been the labours of the federal administra- 
tion, the priests are still too much in the ascendant 
to admit of a rapid or wide- spread amendment; 
and though they conform outwardly to the regu- 
lations of Government, they work their silent way 
secretly and surely into the homes and hearts of 
the people, like the canker that gnaws the core 
of the outwardly spotless fruit. Their attentions 
are directed towards the poor on the one hand, 
and the wealthy on the other : they care less com- 
paratively about the bourgoisie, who are sufficiently 
rich to dispense with their alms, and intelligent 
enough to discover their plans. They thus secure 



ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS, 307 

the support of the masses and the money of the 
opulent — the most valuable machinery for their 
designs. The war that was formerly waged every- 
where with steel and powder, is now a battle of 
words in private dwellings ; and instead of pro- 
vinces and capitals, it is the control of the rising 
generation for which Liberals and Ultramontanes 
are contending. There can be no doubt as to 
the ultimate result, but who can tell what time 
must first transpire ? 

I could scarcely believe all that had been told 
me with regard to the power exercised by the clergy 
in the most aristocratic society, until I had 
some conversation with a scion of one of the best 
and richest families in Guadalajara. 

I had spoken to him about railways, and what 
a national blessing it would prove if they were 
generally introduced ; he answered me very earnestly 
that, although he would have no objection to the 
construction of a line between the capital and 
Guanajuato, he should be sorry to see his own 
native town Guadalajara connected by rail with 
the rest of the Eepublic. It would, he said, " dis- 
turb the quiet of our city, and by bringing us in 



308 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

contact with the outer world, introduce modern 
customs and destroy our holy religion ! " 

Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon the 
present Government for their activity and sagacity 
in grappling with this momentous question of the 
priesthood ; and their tactics, so far thoroughly suc- 
cessful, promise to be of the greatest benefit to the 
country. Other internal evils, however, of equal 
importance and difficulty, are not so ener- 
getically tackled ; but this is not so much owing 
to indolence on the part of the federal adminis- 
tration, as to a deficiency in the governments of 
the several States. It is only in certain matters 
that the central authorities can interfere in the 
different sovereign departments ; in most dilemmas 
the latter are their own masters, and as their gover- 
nors are elected by the citizens of the State, they 
are often not exactly qualified for the high posi- 
tion which they occupy. 

In quelling rebellions, and especially during the 
war of the intervention, the Eepublicans have been 
forced to employ chiefs of guerrilleros, whose an- 
terior career fitted them rather for the treadmill 
than for the important commands they not un- 



OX SOCIETY AXD POLITICS. 309 

frequently obtained. This was an act of sheer 
necessity on the part of the Liberal leaders. These 
bonds existed, and had to be dealt with. The 
alternative lay between recruiting the ranks from 
their numbers, and thus strengthening the con- 
stitutional cause, or allowing them to enlist in the 
service of the enemy, which would have proved 
a double disadvantage. A class of officers thus 
sprang up who, criminals in their antecedents, were 
nevertheless most useful to the Eepublicans, and 
were thus, after the wished -for object had been 
attained, entitled to the gratitude of the victorious 
Government. These " Bohemians," dangerous and 
turbulent in themselves, were, and still are, em- 
ployed of necessity, partly to reward them for 
past services, but mainly to make them forget in- 
surrection and pronunciamientos. All the privileges 
of the Central Government in a time of State elec- 
tion are therefore frequently applied to the benefit 
of such nominees, and it thus often happens that 
State Governors are the offshoots of a somewhat 
dubious society. 

It is impossible to form a correct idea of Mexican 
affairs by a mere stay in the capital and the ad- 
joining towns. 



310 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

There, all is modelled to a higher standard, and 
the vigilance of the reformers is observable in every 
particular. It is most probable that, with a pro- 
longed period of tranquillity, this lofty tone will 
permeate the Kepublic, but the distant States 
are at present far from imitating the example of 
the capital. The reins of office are there mostly held 
by unprincipled adventurers who, during their brief 
period of sunshine, do their utmost to make hay 
at the expense of the State. This, too, is the result 
of favouring parvenus solely because they have 
assisted in the time of rebellion, and are too 
formidable to be ignored. As there are many more 
of this clique than there are offices at the dis- 
posal of the administration, the limit to emolument 
is fixed at between six and twelve months, when 
the possessor is recalled without any reason being 
assigned, only to make room for another of the 
same stamp. As this is well known, their pillage, 
during their ephemeral tenure, of the public revenues 
is easily explained. 

This is especially the case with the Custom- 
house officials, and more particularly with those 
stationed on the Pacific coast, who enter into 



ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS. 31 1 

regular contracts with the merchants in order to 
defraud the Government and enrich themselves. 
It is customary for captains of merchantmen, 
when arrived off the port, to send a boat ashore 
with the manifest to the merchant, so as to 
enable him to negotiate with the Custom-house 
officer about the terms on which the goods are 
to be admitted. Until an arrangement has been 
effected, the vessel cruises in the vicinity ; and 
should a satisfactory settlement not be granted, 
the captain proceeds to the next port, and 
so on until a sufficiently compliant official is 
discovered. As a rule, the first harbour essayed is 
found to answer the purpose ! 

This practice is fostered by the very severe 
tariff (almost as high as that of the United 
States), which in some instances imposes an ad 
valorem duty of 150 per cent., and I have heard 
merchants in Manzanillo, Colima, and Guadalajara, 
openly declare that if it were not for the habitual 
" arrangement " with the Custom-house officer, it 
would not pay them to import goods. The usual 
" contract " stipulates for payment of half the legal 
duty into the Government coffers, whilst the 



312 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

other half is equally apportioned between the 
official and the merchants. By this transaction, 
the latter gain a quarter of the lawful tax, 
which, if their own statement is to be trusted, 
constitutes all their profit on the importation. 

I do not recount these circumstances for the 
sake of gossip, or to cast a slur on either the 
authorities or the merchants, but because I con- 
sider the knowledge of these facts essential to a 
thorough comprehension of Mexican commerce. 
There is not the slightest doubt that only a 
comparatively short period of quiet is needed to 
enable the country to shake off abuses, the 
most detrimental effect of which is not the 
pecuniary loss which they occasion to the treasury, 
but the demoralising effect they exercise on the 
population. 

The finances of the Eepublic, as may be 
imagined, have for a long time been in a deplor- 
able state, principally owing to the enormous sums 
which the Government have constantly been forced 
to expend upon the maintenance of the army. 
Half, and at times more than half, the entire 
revenue has for years been consigned to the War 



ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS. 313 

Department, and until the entire country has 
attained that degree of stability at which the 
present administration are aiming, the exchequer 
must continue to languish. 

The constant fiscal embarrassments have at 
times forced the Government to measures which 
nothing short of the utmost pressure can palliate. 
Thus, for instance, the most urgent considerations 
only could have compelled the authorities to sanc- 
tion a direct breach of the Constitution such as 
is perpetually committed by the exaction of duty 
on goods passing from one State of the federation 
to another. Such duties are specially prohibited 
by the Constitution, but they are nevertheless 
levied in almost all States, special custom-houses 
and officials existing for the purpose. In this 
instance the Central Government not only does not 
interfere, but legalises as it were the unlawful 
practice, by themselves receiving 25 per cent, of 
all the duties so levied. This suicidal policy will 
also, doubtless, very soon be a bugbear of the past. 

The Mexicans, although generally very different 
from the Spaniards, have yet retained many 
qualities of their former masters. Thus the incom- 



314 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

prehensible and absurd pride of Castillians clings 
to the Mexican in a lamentable degree. He is 
proud beyond anything, though he may be a 
criminal, or a pauper; he is proud for pride's sake, 
without any other " justification for his pet vice. 
"With this extraordinary temperament he combines 
the most tender susceptibility, and is as easily 
offended as pleased. 

These peculiarities characterise alike individuals 
and the national Government, and however efficient 
they may be in dealing with their internal affairs, 
these qualities seriously impede their relations with 
other countries. They are of opinion that their 
friendship ought to be solicited by others, 
little regarding the fact that foreign alliance 
is by far more important to themselves than it 
can ever be to other nations. Discoursing on 
this topic Mexicans will assume a haughty attitude, 
and tell you that their country is sufficiently rich 
and productive to dispense with all foreign aid, 
and that if other nations did not seek for relations 
with Mexico, Mexico would certainly not trouble 
about it herself. This feeling is doubtless one of 
the causes which have prevented the country from 



ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS. 315 

keeping pace with other nations on the path of 
progress. 

The Eepublic numbers over nine millions of in- 
habitants. Of these, over two -thirds are pure 
Indians, the descendants of the tribes found by 
Cortez in the country. Of the remaining three 
millions, two and a half are mestizos, whilst the 
pure Creoles hardly amount to 500,000. There are 
no official statistics upon which to rely for these 
figures. It is impossible to draw the line between 
half-castes and descendants of pure Spanish blood, 
but this much is certain, that there are by far fewer 
genuine Creoles than the Mexicans themselves believe, 
and if the truth were known, the above estimate 
of half a million would still considerably dwindle. 

The whites are the aristocrats of the land; so 
far, they have represented the intelligence of the 
nation, and the majority of its leaders, both political 
and scientific, belong to their ranks; they con- 
sider themselves, and are generally considered, 
the natural superiors of their fellow -citizens. Thus 
there exists a craving to be classed as belonging 
to the undoubted Spanish race, and when the 
mestizo is not conspicuously marked with a brown 



316 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

or yellow skin, he will repudiate affinity with other 
blood, and in spite of his physiognomy endeavour 
to pass for a Creole. 

The mestizos naturally comprise a class of various 
elements, owing to the multifarious grades of inter- 
mixture between the white and indigenous races. 
Thus a portion would, in their characteristics, rank 
with the whites, whilst another and a more con- 
siderable class border on the pale of Indian society. 
As a race, however, the mestizos are unmistakeable ; 
they, although numerically much less important than 
the Indians, are the Mexicans par excellence, com- 
bining, as they do, the character of the Spaniards 
with that of the aborigines. Unfortunately they 
possess neither the best traits of the whites, nor 
the loftiest instincts of the Indios ; they have 
inherited much of the arrogance and unmeaning 
pride of the one, as well as a considerable mea- 
sure of the indolence and callousness of the 
other. As is natural in a mongrel race, there 
are numerous exceptions to this rule, which must 
be taken more as a verdict on most than a 
sweeping judgment on all. The severity of this 
definition, however, is justified in a certain measure 



ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS. 317 

by the fact that most of the disturbances for the 
last half century, and much of the misery caused 
by the civil wars, is due to mestizos. Whites, 
as a rule, were the instigators and ringleaders, 
but in the majority of cases the combatants were 
of the half-caste breed, for the Indians rarely 
joined any party of their own free will. The 
mestizos, although in times of quiet industrious 
and orderly, are easily inflamed to revolt, and 
it is they that form the turbulent element in 
Mexican society. Individually they are affable and 
amiable, like most people of easy-going habits ; 
and, ever prone to a love of amusement, they 
will abandon any occupation for a dance or dis- 
sipation. 

The Indians are the bulk of the population, and 
that class on which the future of the country chiefly 
depends. There were at the time of the conquest, 
and there are now, more than thirty different races, 
speaking as many different languages, and stamped by 
distinctive peculiarities. They are all, however, 
infinitely superior to the other aboriginal races on 
the North American continent. They had ac- 
quired a by no means trivial civilisation before 



318 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

the Spaniards conquered them, and the great 
majority have, in spite of the awful oppression 
and ill-treatment experienced at the hands of 
the white discoverers, preserved their sterling 
virtues to this day. Three centuries of slavery 
have certainly not conduced to an amelioration of 
their condition, and as regards the Aztecs and their 
neighbours whom history has painted in such 
heroic proportions, this protracted period of servi- 
tude has obliterated the energy and enterprise they 
could once undoubtedly claim. Since the inde- 
pendence of Mexico the former jpeones of the 
Spaniards have been free citizens of the Eepub- 
lic, but the unsettled state of the country has 
not, until quite lately, allowed the Government 
to take measures for their instruction and eleva- 
tion from the ignorance and darkness into which 
slavery and the priesthood have plunged them. Con- 
sidering the capricious treatment they have received, 
the Indios must be admired for the way in which 
they have preserved a certain cheerfulness of spirit, 
and constant willingness to work if only en- 
couraged. The genial climate and their sub- 
ordinate position have rendered them indolent 



ON SO CIE TY AND POLITICS. 3 1 9 

when left to their own devices, but when super- 
intended they are excellent artisans, operatives, 
and servants ; and, indeed, it is they that perform 
all the labour in the country. The ignorance and 
degradation in which they have been nurtured have 
naturally deadened in them the very idea of a 
luxurious affluence — an idea which, if history is to 
be believed, they certainly possessed in the olden 
time ; their wants are exceedingly few, and thoughts 
of accumulating proj)erty or bettering their condi- 
tion are as yet entirely foreign to them. To judge, 
however, from isolated examples, it appears fairly 
established that education will awake the nation 
from their sloth and torpor, and that although long 
years will be needed to redeem the stupefaction of 
the past, yet there seems no cause to doubt that ulti- 
mately this Indian population of Mexico will prove 
an illustrous family in the community of nations. 

Those who stigmatise the population of the 
Kepublic as beyond hope of improvement, and 
who deem its future a hopeless blank, cannot have 
seriously weighed the wonderful career of Juarez, 
one of Mexico's noblest presidents, who was 
a pure Indian, as well as the services of many 



320 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

others, who, like him, have sprung from the 
unadulterated and indigenous race. 

It is well known that Mexico is a surpassingly 
rich country, and it has been repeatedly said, that 
there is no product that the land cannot be made 
to yield. This is no exaggeration. Its geographical 
position and topographical configuration combine 
to render ' it unique in its climate. The tropical 
temperature belonging to its latitude is mode- 
rated by the elevation of the ground, and all 
the climates of the globe, from intense heat to 
eternal snow, are found on its surface. 

From the Pacific coast the country slopes gently 
to an altitude of 8000 feet, whilst on the 
Atlantic side the acclivity is more abrupt 
and the decline precipitous. The central district 
forms a vast table-land, undulating in its general 
features ; it enjoys the most perfect climate imagin- 
able, and is for the greater part composed of 
arable soil. The mountains conceal minerals of 
all descriptions, amongst which silver ore is by 
no means the rarest, and competent authorities 
assert that coal is not unknown in different parts 
of the Eepublic. 



ON SOCIETY AND POLITICS. 321 

The tierra caliente admits of all tropical pro- 
ducts ; the tierra templada furnishes cereals of 
all kinds in unsurpassed quality ; whilst the tierra 
firia abounds in timber and much indigenous 
produce. 

When it is possible to speak in such general 
terms, it is unnecessary to particularise : the land 
only requires the requisite labour to be bestowed 
upon it, and there exists but little that cannot be 
grown in one part of the Eepublic or the other. 

From these premises it is not difficult to infer 

that Mexico has a great future before her ; but 

that future is entirely dependent on the action 

of the Government, and the support that the 

population will lend them to uproot Ultramon- 

tanism, diffuse instruction, and improve the means 

of communication. With regard to the two former 

measures, the administration are as assiduous as 

could be desired ; but although the importance 

of the latter question is thoroughly acknowledged, 

there does not exist the same energy in solving 

it. If the means of easy transport were once 

established, the capacity of the country would 

increase in enormous proportions ; and if, finally, 

x 



322 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

by adopting a just and conciliatory policy, the 
Government should induce foreign capital to 
seek employment in Mexico, an era of unparal- 
leled commercial prosperity and national greatness 
would open before her. 



CHAPTER XII. 

FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 

Departure from the capital — Buena vista station — The Mexico and 
Vera Cruz Railway — A cold night — Apizaco and the branch line 
to Puebla — Pico de Orizaba — Boca del Monte — Maltrata — Escorts — 
Barranca del Infiernillo — Arrival at Orizaba — Fertility around the 
town — Cotton factory — Resume journey — Barranca de Metlac — 
Cordoba — Atoyac — Chiquihuite Falls — Luxuriant vegetation of 
tierra caliente — Barrenness of the country near the coast — Arrival 
at Vera Cruz — Hotel de las Diligencias — Peculiar hotel arrangements 
— The norte — Baths — Embarkation on board the Floride and 
departure. 

On the evening of Wednesday, 14th January 1874, 
I witnessed the assemblage of a numerous party in 

the hospitable house of Dr S ; but whilst in 

the full swing of enjoyment, I was reminded that 
the train which was to take me away from the 
capital was appointed to leave at midnight. 
Hurrying from the brilliant ball-room and charm- 
ing partners, I repaired to the Hotel Iturbide, 
where two rickety hackney-coaches and at least 
half-a-dozen busybodies were waiting to transport 
my own person and luggage to the Buena vista 



324 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

railway station. The latter is but a large 
wooden shed, and whatever the ultimate intentions 
of the Eailway Company may be, both build- 
ing and arrangements are as yet most primitive. 
Mexicans, whose experience of these matters can 
be but quite recent, are employed in the various 
duties of the station, and the confusion in the 
luggage department I have rarely seen equalled. 
In spite of all these minor discomforts, however, 
my spirits w T ere at their highest ; for it was 
a railway train in which I was about to travel, 
and not a diligence, and that fact proved in 
itself sufficient to dispel all predispositions for 
discontent. I was fortunate enough to journey in 
company with an American gentleman, by whose 
thorough acquaintance with the country I had 
already benefited during my sojourn in Mexico, 
and who, until I embarked at Vera Cruz, most 
considerately acted as my informant and guide. 

Mr P and myself were soon ensconced in the 

old-fashioned English carriages here employed for 
first-class accommodation, and punckyjlly at twelve 
o'clock the locomotive's shrill signal whistled adieu 
to the city of Montezuma. 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GOLF. 325 

The Mexico and Vera Cruz Railway is, as 
regards the time occupied and the various diffi- 
culties encountered in its construction, perhaps the 
most remarkable of all similar enterprises. 

It was commenced in 1852, but the company 
had to battle with the chimerical ideas of one 
of the then directors, who, among other whims, 
cherished that of constructing a line from the 
capital towards the coast, simultaneously with 
that from the sea up-country. This measure 
necessitated the carriage of rails and other 
materials from Vera Cruz to Mexico over a 
track of country presenting the greatest possible 
obstacles to transport, thus, at least, doubling 
the expense. Want of funds, revolutions, and 
the like, prevented the progress of the under- 
taking ; and when the French invaded the 
Republic in 1861, the line was only completed a 
few miles inland from the coast, and a short dis- 
tance from the capital on the plateau. The French 
generals, and subsequently the Emperor Maximilian, 
materially aided the company with funds, and 
the works advanced fairly, when the overthrow 
of the Empire again put a stop to their exertions. 



326 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

This time, however, their idleness was not of long 
duration, for the Liberals took up the railway ques- 
tion with vigour. Congress considerably increased 
the subsidy, and finally, on the 1st of January 1873, 
the line from Mexico to Vera Cruz, 263 miles, 
was inaugurated by President Lerdo and his 
ministers. 

The line may be divided into three sections : the 
first from Mexico over the plateau of the tierra 
fria to Boca del Monte, a distance of 156 miles; 
thence down the steep descent of the cumbres, to 
Paso del Macho, 60 miles ; and finally thence along 
the gently sloping tierra caliente to Vera Cruz, 47 
miles. The two end sections presented no difficul- 
ties of note, but the centre portion is one of the 
greatest feats of engineering skill ; and it is doubt- 
ful whether the marvellous line between Callao and 
Oroya in Peru, which is to scale an altitude of 
more than 15,000 feet, will present much greater 
obstacles than did the short portion of this Mexi- 
can enterprise that lies between Boca del Monte 
and Orizaba, where, in a distance of only 25 miles, 
the road descends almost 4000 feet, where curves 
of 300 feet radius, and gradients of three and four 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 327 

per cent, often over loose and yielding ground, follow 
one another in quick succession. 

For more than a hundred and fifty miles after 
leaving the city, we travelled over the undulating 
plateau of the tierra fria, an appellation which coin- 
cided entirely with the temperature that prevailed. 
The elevation of nigh 8000 feet is disagreeably per- 
ceptible when the sun is not shining, and in respect 
of the cold, it might have been Siberia that we were 
traversing instead of the tropics. This part of 
the country is described as one continuous maguey 
plantation, slightly varied by crops and meadows 
where the soil permits. Large quantities of 
pulque are the staple of this mesa, and espe- 
cially of the seventy miles nearest the capital. 
This industry has greatly augmented since the 
construction of the railway, as its transport has 
been so much accelerated. Formerly, the city's 
supply came solely from places distant ten or 
fifteen miles ; now, a considerable portion is re- 
ceived from Soltepec and the seven intermediate 
stations, and the company run a train daily called 
the "pulque train," which brings up the day's 
provision in the early morning. 



328 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

At Apizaco, where we arrived at five a.m., the 
branch line to Puebla joins the main line. This 
part has been completed for several years, and is 
twenty-nine miles in length. 

When daylight appeared, we were still spinning 
along the wavy table-land thickly overgrown with 
its prickly mat of cacti, stubbly trees, and maguey s 
of enormous dimensions — many with their slim 
blossom-stem springing from the centre. 

This indeed seems to be the home of the aloe ; 
it thrives nowhere else so well. At times rancho 
buildings would seem to flit past us, and cattle 
might be seen browsing on the scanty pasture ; 
above all, as if conscious of his eternal sovereignty, 
Orizaba reared unabashed his snowy front to meet 
the piercing blue of the cloudless heavens. 

This majestic cone, 17,400 feet in height, is an 
extinct volcano, and the characteristic landmark of 
a wide range of country. Until we reached the 
coast, the white, tapering colossus was never lost to 
view. 

At eight o'clock the train stopped at Boca del 
Monte — the Mouth of the Mount — a station, or, 
more truly speaking, half-a-dozen wooden sheds, on 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 329 

one of which we descried the welcome words, Hotel 
Restaurant del Ferro Carril ; and wondering why 
a mere long " lumber hut," as they say in the 
States, was dignified with so pretentious a name, 
we sat down to a very tolerable potage au riz and 
poulet saute, for "mine host" happened to be a 
Gaul. 

At this spot, 7800 feet above sea-level, the pla- 
teau suddenly terminates, and the steep decline of 
the cumbres begins. The train was piloted by a 
double-headed monster engine — a Fairlie locomo- 
tive ; and immediately after leaving the station, 
we entered on our downward path. From here, for 
the next twenty-five miles, the train makes tardy 
progress — about eight miles an hour — and twines 
like some serpent down its wavering course, skirt- 
ing mountain steeps on passes cut into the rock 
or earth, turning sharp curves that caused the 
carriages to lean perceptibly to one side, crossing 
giddy ravines and clefts over slender bridges, and 
penetrating into the heart of hills and rocks 
through many tunnels. It was difficult to trust 
the eye when a survey was made; on one side a 
perpendicular mass of massive stone, on the other 



330 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

a yawning abyss, and aheada glistening line that 
marks the track as it clings to the battlements of a 
chasmed height. 

After whizzing through the first tunnel, the 
charming valley of Maltrata appeared in sight, 
a soft and glossy sward separating the giant 
mountains 2000 feet below us, with its chessboard 
of trim fields, its fruitful gardens and white houses, 
which seemed, from our altitude, like so many 
specks; whilst the monarch of the region, the 
glacier-capped Orizaba, lowered over the many 
ranges of the Sierra in distant and paramount 
grandeur. 

As we proceeded down the slanting line, field and 
fell, gardens and houses grew larger, the waving crops 
clearer, and the inhabitants of this snug retreat were 
descried plying their rustic avocations. Although 
only thirteen miles of railway lie between Boca 
del Monte and Maltrata (a distance much in excess 
of the straight line), the climate is totally different; 
and cacti, maguey, and dwarf trees are super- 
seded by all the fruitage of the tierra templada, 
for the altitude of Maltrata is but 5500 feet. Thus 
a descent of 2300 feet is accomplished in thirteen 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 331 

miles, establishing an average gradient of three 
and a half per cent. The engineering works along 
this portion of the line, and indeed the whole way 
to Paso del Macho, are stupendous ; and the traveller 
along this wonderful countr) T divides his attention 
and admiration almost equally between nature's 
awe-inspiring creation and man's skilful work. 
Chasms and precipices are gracefully spanned by 
viaducts and bridges, indestructibly founded of iron, 
on massive supports of solid masonry ; and though 
apparently slender and almost hazardous, are never- 
theless more than efficient for the requisite purpose.* 
Six tunnels in quick succession are passed before 
arrival at Maltrata, which is at length reached by 
an enormous detour, necessitated by a steep moun- 
tain interposing between it and the direct route. 
The track winds here along the uncertain tracery 
of the mountain ridges like a stream through a ser- 
pentine valley : now it will run due north, then a 
sharp curve turns it due south, and at length, on the 

* On the entire railway, including the branch line to Puebla, there 
are ten viaducts, fifty-five iron bridges, and ninety -three wooden bridges ; 
the latter are being gradually replaced by works of iron. There are in 
all fifteen tunnels, the longest of which is about 350 feet. The longest 
bridge is the Puente de Soledad, measuring 742 feet. 



332 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

opposite side of a ravine, the road-bed over which 
we have just glided is discerned slanting down 
the incline, which towers far above our heads. 

At a little before eleven o'clock we stopped at the 
station, and looked up the rugged cumlres behind 
us, wondering how we had passed their perpen- 
dicular and seemingly insurmountable barriers. 
At Maltrata, the up and down trains pass one 
another. The train from Vera Cruz happened to 
be behind time that morning, and the delay afforded 
us an opportunity to inspect the station, and the 
convoy by which we had come. 

The small station is erected on an artificial 
plateau levelled out of the continuous declivity, 
and through which the line runs in a curve. The 
descent on leaving Maltrata is even steeper than 
the gradient immediately before, being fully four 
per cent. The carriages of our train were well 
filled, especially those of the second and third class, 
and attached to it there was a large American car 
tenanted by a company of soldiers. A similar escort 
is provided for every train. The ladrones of this 
region (especially between Boca del Monte and 
Paso del Macho), were wont, in the times of the 







^#fr- 



l'ROM MEXICO TO THE GULE. 333 

diligences, to be the most successful of all their 
confreres in the Republic. When the railway first 
commenced to travel, these worthies, unwilling to 
relinquish a profitable and hereditary profession, 
endeavoured to attack the trains as they slackened 
speed up or down the cumbres, but their depreda- 
tions were nipped in the bud by the Governmental 
provision of regular escorts. 

At length the expected train came puffing up 
the incline, and we were again en route. The 
powerful Fairlie locomotive, in addition to the 
efficacious Westinghouse break, restrained the string 
of carriages from undue speed down the dangerous 
declivities, as we followed the wayward configura- 
tion of the glorious mountains into whose encircling 
parapets the road has been hewn with astounding 
skill. Immediately after quitting Maltrata, the line 
enters the Barranca del Infiemillo, a chasm that 
divides two craggy steeps, and whose dizzy depths 
the eye can scarcely measure. Bridges across gulfs 
follow tunnels through rocky promontories ; views 
majestically pencilled succeed one another with 
surprising rapidity, as we carefully and slowly 
descend : the mammoth engine hugs its iron path 



33-4 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

and guides us in safety over the seeming peril. 
As we progress the vegetation gradually changes, 
and the signs of lower altitude are observable in 
bush and brake. Calm weald and wold below 
us were rich with their dewy green, so different 
from the dusty growth of the arid plateau, and 
so gladdening to an eye wearied by cacti and 
maguey. 

After passing the Injiernillo precipice, ever 
memorable for its awful beauty, the gradient 
became less severe, but curves and countercurves 
caused the train to twist and twirl in an almost 
incredible manner, until, a few miles before Orizaba, 
the ground appeared more even and the line less 
complicated. The twelve miles from Maltrata to 
the latter station occupied an hour more, and we 
arrived at noon. 

Mr P and I had arranged to spend a day 

at Orizaba, and therefore quitted the train, and 
repaired to the Hotel de las Diligencias (in this 
case happily a solecism), where we found the usual 
provincial accommodation. 

Orizaba is 181 miles distant from the capital, 
and rises 4000 feet above the level of the sea, 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 335 

thus being 360 feet lower than the valley of 
Mexico. This difference, and its comparative proxi- 
mity to the sea-shore, have of course a marked 
influence on the climate and vegetation. It is em- 
bosomed in a lovely valley wreathed with mountains, 
whose summits were enshrouded by curling mists, 
the leaden blackness of which called to memory 
the normal state of the west coast of Ireland. 
Unlike the plateau, where the wet and dry seasons 
are strictly divided, this part of the Atlantic slope 
is in its climate exceedingly damp. Whenever the 
wind blows from the north on the coast (and 
we were informed that such was the case at the 
time of our stay), clouds and moisture are wafted 
across to the cumbres, which, too lofty to allow 
of their passage, arrest and absorb them. This 
naturally renders the soil extraordinarily fertile, and 
although the altitude precludes the possibility of 
ultra-tropical plants, yet we saw flourishing ban- 
anas and billowy fields of sugar-cane, cotton plan- 
tations, and gardens of glowing fruit. 

The town itself is an old, noiseless place, with 
straight but rather irregular streets, and simple 
houses, tiled, with sloping and overhanging roofs. 



336 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

The roadways are badly and unevenly paved, and 
wide gutters, almost like open sewers, run down 
their centre. The buildings are mostly low and 
one-storied, and innocent of any attempt at 
decoration. Gardens are numerous, especially in 
the neighbourhood, where the houses are curtained 
with mellow foliage — bananas, orange, oleander, and 
coffee trees — which lends to that portion of the 
town a tangled and straggling appearance. A 
fine cathedral graces the plaza, and the lofty 
towers and domes of many other churches rise 
from the low streets. A rivulet waters Orizaba in a 
deep and rocky valley, and is spanned in several 
places by curious ancient bridges, one of which is 
in ruins, and now obsolete. The steep banks of this 
stream are partially dammed by old walls, from 
whose cracks and crevices creepers and parasites 
spring in fantastic luxuriance, draping the masonry 
with a magnificent carpet of verdure. From the 
margin of the stream large-leaved weeds and huge 
ferns shoot up in lavish profusion, and show the 
thousand different gradations of green ; at the 
brink of this rivulet men and women, scantily clad, 
were performing the mysterious rites of the laun- 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 337 

dry for the town — rites not too conscientiously 
cultivated. "When the washing and rubbing were 
accomplished, the linen would be spread on the dry 
patches of stone or sand which the stream had 
left untouched in its course, or be suspended from 
a rock or the twigs of a neighbouring shrub, for 
the purpose of drying. 

This Homeric scene was exceeded in interest 
by that which awaited us in the market-place, 
thronged, as it was, with Indians and dark mestizos, 
who had mustered in great numbers, for it was the 
principal market-day of the week. The anima- 
tion and bustle reminded me instantly of similar 
occasions at Colima, and when the difference in 
the physiognomy of the natives is excepted, 
there is little to distinguish the one from the 
other. The market is held in a large open 
space, and the multifarious products were mostly 
exhibited on the ground, under fragile stands 
of sticks and matting, or the characteristic 
umbrella-shaped tendajes or sombrajos, suspended 
on centre-poles, and constantly shifted to shut 
out the sun. It would be but useless repeti- 
tion to enumerate the various articles which 



338 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

crowded every stall ; suffice it to say, that all 
conceivable fruits and vegetables of the tierra 
caliente and tierra templada were represented, 
as well as the butcher's supply of flesh and 
dried meats, and the confectioner's numberless 
choice of pan dulce. Salt and various spices, 
as well as cold tortillas and sausages, were there 
to attract the hungry, while their vendors sub- 
stituted large tough leaves for paper, and strips 
of the fibry palmetto leaf for string, to wrap 
their delicacies in their neat parcels. The 
solemn Indians were droning their strange 
musical language as they sold their own produce 
and bought supplies, whilst the cheerful and 
frolicsome mestizos were sustaining a loud and 
lively palaver, accompanied by merry peals of 
laughter. The Indios, whom they pleased to 
treat as children, would at one time offer scope 
for their sportive raillery ; at another their banter 
would be directed against one of their own 
number, or the scrutinising estranjeros whose eyes 
examined them and their wares. 

We were much amused by the frequent 
bartering transactions between the neighbouring 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 339 

stall-keepers ; thus we saw two hands-full of salt 
exchanged for half the quantity of chile, and 
a huge water-melon given in payment for a 
couple of sausages ; but a tortilla and a radish 
vendor could not come to terms. They were 
both young mestizos of sturdy build, and whilst 
the owner of the radishes, on the principle of 
" measure for measure," demanded a tortilla for 
every root, the lady who sold the former would 
only part with four maize cakes for five of the 
pungent vegetables, and the bargain was unhap- 
pily left uncompleted. 

Orizaba numbers about 20,000 inhabitants, and 
since the railway has made it its principal 
station for stores and repairs, it has gained in 
importance. In spite of the clammy atmosphere, 
its climate is very salubrious, for its altitude 
ensures it against the spread of epidemics ; and 
although a few cases of yellow fever are annually 
carried into the town by fugitives from Vera 
Cruz, that terrible malady has never yet assumed 
alarming proportions. 

We visited the Cocoalapan cotton factory, a 
large and admirably-arranged establishment. It 



340 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

is under English management, but owned by a 
wealthy Mexican. A paper-mill and some 
smaller manufactories are in the vicinity, where 
water power is to be found in abundance. We 
also minutely inspected the railway workshops, 
where we saw a number of engines of various 
mechanisms and nationalities. The Fairlie, as 
the engineer in charge informed us, is as yet 
the only one that can be used with safety over 
the cumbres, but experiments were just then being 
undertaken with a very powerful locomotive of 
American manufacture. 

The clouds that had been gathering in the 
evening dissolved the next morning in a 
gentle but obstinate drizzle ; the icy minaret of 
Orizaba was perfectly invisible, and its pinnacles 
thickly veiled in scud and mist. Towards noon 
the sun began to burst its shroud of moisture, 
and the fields and orchards were deliciously 
fragrant when we proceeded to the station to 
continue our route. The train from Mexico 
happened to be two hours behind time, and 
it was not before two p.m. that we were again 
seated in the train. 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 341 

The line quits Orizaba, as it enters it, on a 
gradient of about two per cent. ; this is main- 
tained for the next seven miles without any re- 
markable curves or other difficulties, the railway 
running almost parallel with the old waggon high- 
road. The country through which we travelled was 
an absolute hothouse of fertility ; haciendas, huertas, 
and wild patches of delicate leafage succeeded 
one another, and the more we advanced the more 
tropical became plants and climate. In half- an -hour 
we reached the Barranca de Metlac, a chasm 
very similar to those of Beltran and Atenquique 
on the Pacific side, but considerably smaller in 
its dimensions. The depth of Metlac is about 
200 feet (its eastern side is considerably higher 
than the western), and not more than about 130 
yards across, measurements, however, which proved 
immense obstacles to the construction of the rail- 
way. It was at first contemplated to span the 
depth by a bridge across the top, but supports of 
200 feet in height proved impracticable. The 
roadway, which, when it strikes the barranca, turns 
to the northward, is cut into its perpendicular 
wall, sloping at a gradient of three per cent., 



342 A PEEP A T MEXICO. 

until it descends half-way, when it crosses to 

the other side on a bridge, and scales the opposite 

steep in a similar manner, the two slopes running 

for some distance parallel to one another. The 

descent in the severe decline takes the train 

through no fewer than five tunnels, which perforate 

as many rocky promontories ; and when the level 

of the bridge is attained, another tunnel into 

the mountain -side winds in a considerable curve 

to enable the train to enter the bridge, which 

stands at right angles to the previous direction 

of the line. This bridge, which is 445 feet long 

and 92 high, is one of the most remarkable 

structures of its kind. It is shaped in a curve 

from one side to the other, and is certainly one 

of the most extraordinary works on this railway, so 

replete with the triumphs of engineering art. 

"When the opposite end of the bridge is gained, a 

tunnel similar to the one just quitted is entered, 

so as to allow the train to resume the direction 

of the barranca's course, and the ascent is at 

once commenced.* The scenery throughout this 

* I am informed that these skilful engineering operations are due 
to the ability of Mr William Cross Buchanan, now consulting engineer 
to the Mexican Railway Company. 




o 






FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 343 

barranca is exquisite. The vegetation closely re- 
sembles that described on the Pacific side, giant 
labyrinths of leafy luxuriance, with here and 
there a bold rock glaring from its prison-bars of 
green, and the Rio de Metlac, clear as crystal, 
speeding over its pebbly bed at the base. It 
is worth a sea- voyage of thousands of miles, if 
only to see this ravine and the line that 
traverses it. 

Arrived at the eastern mesa, a few miles over 
almost level ground brought us to Fortin, a small 
place, which, till the end of 1872, was the terminal 
station of the Vera Cruz section of the railway. 

Five miles more over a regular gradient of more 
than two per cent., and through the most enchant- 
ing country, brought us to Cordoba, the Colima 
of the east. Although Cordoba is 2690 feet 
above sea -level, and thus more than a thousand 
feet higher than the western town, its climate is 
very similar to that of the latter, and what 
flourishes in Colima may also be found there, 
with the sole exception of the cocoa-palm, which 
never grows at a higher altitude than 1500 
feet. The huertas and plantations of Cordoba 



344 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

enjoy no mean reputation, and had I not been 
forced to hurry on board the steamer, I should not 
have passed this spot as hastily as I did. 

Cordoba is especially famed for its coffee, which 
is said to equal that of Colima and Mocha ; extensive 
haciendas are exclusively employed with its growth, 
and through the instrumentality of the railway a 
considerable export trade in this product to the 
United States has been inaugurated, as well as in 
many others. Foreigners have bought estates here, 
and the place promises to increase in size and 
importance. 

From here, for the next seventeen miles, our 
route traversed a continuous track of tropical 
forest, which seems, by its deep shade and shining 
flowers, to unite the charms of night and morning ; 
and this wood might well realise the most fanciful 
ideal. My experience of the Pacific coast was 
entirely eclipsed by the indescribable splendour 
of this region. It seemed as if we were gliding 
over an ocean of teeming herbage, in which 
the shadowy hills formed the waves and the 
millions of brilliant blossoms the foam and spray. 
Both sides of the line are securely embanked by 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 345 

this impregnable fastness of interlaced vegetation, 
and it is rarely that a small clearing affords room 
for an Indian hut (little else but a high and 
steep gable-roof of heavy thatch), or a stream, 
embowered among matted arches of brushwood, 
ferns, and creepers, bubbles up from the prolific 
soil. 

Three-quarters of an hour after leaving C6r- 
doba, we crossed the Atoyac river on a fine iron 
bridge, and reached the little town of the same 
name, sleeping softly in its narrow valley, amid 
the whispers of bananas and orange-trees, with an 
air of such ethereal and suggestive laziness that it 
might prompt the beholder to assign it as the 
very birthplace of " dolce far niente." Proceeding, 
we arrived at the last barriers that intervene 
between the interior and the coast, the Chiquihuite 
mountains, famed for the most enchanting and 
superb scenery. The line for two miles follows 
the winding course of the Atoyac river, until it 
quits its valley and plunges into a tunnel through 
a gigantic rock. Emerging from the latter, a sharp 
curve suddenly discloses the remarkable Rio de 
Chiquihuite, where it bounds in a lovely cascade 



346 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

from a rift in the sheer cliff, sixty feet into the 
gorge below. :) 

The vesture of greenery which drapes every inch 
of this wonderful region thoroughly screens the 
fissure whence the water springs. It rushes forth 
between beaded leaves and quivering branches, and 
precipitates its volume unobstructed into thin spray 
and irised mist beneath. It was but a glance 
that I caught of this sublime picture ; for as the 
remorseless train moved on, an obtrusive rock 
cruelly interposed between it and the longing eye, 
and it was seen no more. 

The next station was Paso del Macho, where 
we arrived at a quarter past four. From there 
(1550 feet above sea-level) the ground slopes 
gently down to the coast, a distance of forty- 
seven miles, and there is nothing to distinguish 
the railway from any ordinary work of the same 
kind. A great change now takes place in the 
country. The hitherto superabundant vegetation 
gradually becomes thinner, the soil becomes thirsty 
and gritty, and is at times sprinkled with gaunt 
shapes of rock. Stumpy trees and stunted bushes 
take the place of the netted undergrowth on the 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 347 

mountains, and it is only where a river refreshes 
the cracki g soil that the monotony is relieved 
by coverts of succulent green. -Such spots are 
invariably chosen as the sites of small towns or 
Indian villages, whose unsymmetrical cabins, with 
their downy roofs, impart a whimsical beauty to the 
lawn-like banks. 

It is said that this track of country is too low 
to come in contact with the vapours wafted 
inland from the sea, which, attracted by the 
heights, float over the coast-land without fer- 
tilising it. 

"We crossed the Rio Jamapa over the longest 
iron bridge on the line, and arrived at La Sole- 
dad situate on its eastern bank, and memorable 
as the spot where the Convention between the in- 
vading powers and Mexico was signed on the 19th 
of February 1862. 

The perfectly flat country shows, now and then, 
a strip of swamp, but it is mostly a cheerless 
waste of sand, with only the scantiest of vegetation. 
Palms and bananas, so luscious on the Pacific coast, 
are here conspicuous only for their absence ; there 
is nothing but low jungle on the patches of marsh, 



348 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

and a few deformed cacti peering between the 
rough masses of rock and shingle. 

We stopped at two stations, La Purga and 
Tejeria, and finally at seven o'clock passed through 
a break in the crumbling walls of the ancient 
fortifications of Vera Cruz, and entered the wooden 
shed which at present forms the terminus. 

As a matter of course, the house to which we 
repaired was the Hotel de las Diligencias — an 
establishment bearing this appellation being as 
material a part of every Mexican town as its plaza 
or its catedral. This hotel was the reverse of 
agreeable. The narrow yard at its entrance was 
redolent of more than the orthodox " two and 
seventy" odours attributed by the poet to Cologne, 
and the slatternly French hostess ushered us into 
the only room vacant, to reach which we were 
obliged to pass through the apartment of a 
Havanese family, consisting of husband, wife, 
infant, and nurse 1 With evident risk to the 
comfort of this happy quartette we ventured upon 
an evening excursion, after partaking of comida 
in the gallery overlooking the above-mentioned 
delightful court. The sky was overcast, whilst 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 349 

a "norther" or norte was howling melancholily, 
and on arrival at the Custom-house gate, we saw 
the waves dashing over the stone landing-stage 
and into the streets. Of the proverbial heat of 
Vera Cruz I could discover nothing ; indeed, the 
prevailing gale rendered the atmosphere cool and 
pleasant. 

The next morning broke with a clear blue sky, 
a blazing sun, and not a breath of wind, illustra- 
tive of the sudden changes in the weather, more 
frequent here than even pronunciamientos. The 
" knowing ones," however, prognosticated a 
speedy return of the hurricane, for this was the 
season for nortes. Although inconvenient to the 
shipping, and obstructive to the landing of mer- 
chandise, they are welcome guests, as they tem- 
porarily free the town from the scourge of vomito 
— that most malignant type of yellow fever, for 
which Vera Cruz enjoys an unenviable reputa- 
tion. 

The town is the chief port of the Kepublic, 
and the receipts of its customs amount to more 
than half the national revenue from this 
source. It thus seems hardly credible that 



350 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

Vera Cruz should lack a harbour, or, with the 
exception of a short stone pier, any other 
arrangement to facilitate the shipping traffic. 
But such is the case. Its topography is most 
unfavourable to the construction of a harbour, 
but the English Kail way Company intend to 
erect a mole, which promises to be a great im- 
provement. At present, vessels must anchor 
between the shore and a small island about half 
a mile to seaward, on which is built the fort of 
San Juan de Uloa. At the back of this island, 
and parallel with the coast, coral reefs extend 
for a considerable distance, so that the town 
can only be approached from the north or south. 
When a norte is blowing, communication between 
vessels in the roadstead and the shore is im- 
possible ; and when the wind becomes very 
violent, as is frequently the case in January and 
February, ships often make their way towards 
the sea to prevent inevitable destruction, in the 
event of dragging their anchors. 

Vera Cruz was founded by the Viceroy Count 
Monterey at the end of the sixteenth century, 
and until the declaration of independence its port 



FROM MEXICO 70 THE GULF. 351 

had the privilege of alone being open to foreign 
commerce on the Atlantic seaboard of Mexico. 

This of course was a source of great wealth 
to the town, which, as far as its buildings are 
concerned, retains ample tokens of past grandeur. 
Originally a fortress, it is still entirely sur- 
rounded by massive walls and ramparts; and as 
the neighbouring country is nothing but a desert, 
and offers little temptation to use it for building 
sites, the habitations are mainly confined to the 
limited space within the walls. 

The latter stretch about a quarter of a mile 
along the sea-shore, and are flanked on both 
sides by ancient forts, whilst on the land side the 
ramparts are curved in the form of an arc, and 
entered by a number of quaint gateways, on 
which other enemies besides time and tempest 
have left their ineffaceable marks. The countless 
ancient cupolas and towers look hoar and 
venerable, whilst the houses generally are kept 
in good repair, and notwithstanding their age are 
carefully coated with paint to conceal their de- 
ficiencies. 

The streets, though ill-paved, appeared neat 



352 A PEEP AT MEXICO. 

and clean, and made me wonder how the 
notorious scavengers of the town — the sombre 
zopilotes — could manage to thrive, especially as they 
seemed to be in the reverse of a starving con- 
dition. The open sewer running along the centre 
of the thoroughfare resembled a clear stream ; 
and with the exception of the hotel-yard, I 
encountered none of the balmy fragrance for 
which Vera Cruz is widely famed. 

But it must not be forgotten that my visit was 
in January, perhaps the coolest and healthiest 
month in the year. 

Our first errand on Saturday, January 17th, 
1874 (my last day in Mexico), was to patronise 
the bathing establishment, which I mention on 
account of its comfort and excellence. Successive 
compartments, furnished with every necessary 
appliance, run round three sides of a large 
patio, which is a complete nursery of beautiful 
plants bedewed by the ever-trickling fountain in 
the centre. 

Facing the hotel is the plaza, a capital 
specimen of this national institution, tesselated 
with a most curious and artistic pavement 



FROM MEXICO TO THE GULF. 353 

of marble. Here and in the alameda, which is 
outside the walls, I spied the only palms in 
Vera Cruz. 

But the time for embarkation had arrived. The 
Societe Transatlantiques steamer Floride had 
hoisted the " Blue Peter," and a short row through 
the rolling surf soon brought me on board. At 
three o'clock the good ship quietly moved from 
her anchorage near San Juan de Uloa, and an 
hour later the faint outlines of Montezuma's 
receding shores had mingled with the hazy 
horizon. 



THE END. 



FRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY 
EDINBURGH AND LONDON. 









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